Standing On Her Own
by immaturelittlegirl
Summary: Dawn goes to live with her father in LA and must learn to live without her sister. Strange coincidences lead her to meet an interesting person. Dawn/Connor
1. Part 1

**Author**: ImmatureLittleGirl **Email**: immaturelittlegirl@yahoo.com

**Disclaimer**: The characters in this story belong to the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Joss Whedon and maybe other people, I'm not sure, I just know that I don't own them...

**Summary**: Dawn goes to live with her father in LA and has to learn to live without her sister. Strange coincidences lead her to meet an interesting person. Dawn/Connor

**Rating**: PG-13 I guess.

**Standing on Her Own **

**PART 1**

It's funny how the worst things happen as soon as you aren't expecting it. By now you would have thought I'd have figured that much out a long time ago, but every time something happens, it completely throws me. One of these days, I will learn to not let my guard down; to be prepared for anything. But how can I be prepared when the one semi-stable thing in my life is being taken away? 

It had started as a fairly normal day, or as normal a day in my life could be. I had been running late again and Buffy was rushing me off to school. I was still giving her the cold shoulder about allowing Willow to get me into the car accident. Honestly, I knew it wasn't really Buffy's fault, but it made me feel slightly better to have someone to blame. As Xander and I were on our way out the door, a short, plump, woman with red, curly, hair arrived. I hadn't seen her before, so I carried on not really giving her a second thought. She introduced herself as Doris Kroger, my social worker. Ms. Kroger explained that she had an appointment with Buffy that day, but, not surprisingly, Buffy had forgotten about it. I continued out the front door, too concerned with my own troubles to care about whatever the lady had to say. Xander followed in tow, and off to school I was.

The school day went smoothly. I managed to get through it without becoming involved in any serious crises. A major accomplishment for a teenage girl in high school. 

As soon as I got home from school, everything changed so quickly. The moment I stepped into the yard, I knew something was wrong. A terrible foreboding feeling came over me, and my stomach tied into knots as I ascended the stairs on our front porch. I stopped before opening the front door, almost afraid of what was going to greet me on the other side. Forcing myself to continue on, I opened the door only to find nothing. An intense silence filled the house, which was strange, considering how hectic everything had been lately. I stood in the foyer for a moment and just listened, taking in my surroundings. I felt as though something was waiting in the wings to attack as soon as I let down my guard.

"Dawn is that you?" a voice called from the kitchen. I knew it was Buffy, but something was strange about her voice. It was hoarse and weak, she sounded defeated.

"Yeah," I called back. Something inside me screamed not to go into the kitchen. There was something in there, waiting for me. I could feel it. 

"Could you come into the kitchen?" Buffy asked as she came to the door of the kitchen. I could see that she was upset. Her eyes were bloodshot as though she had been crying and she was chewing on her bottom lip nervously.

"Yeah. What's wrong?" I asked, slowly walking down the hall to the kitchen. As I entered the kitchen, Buffy stepped aside to reveal the short, heavy, woman who had been there earlier that morning. She smiled sympathetically as I entered the room. 

"Dawn this is Doris Kroger, she's your social worker," Buffy introduced. I could hear the bitter tone in her voice, which only intensified my anxiety.

"I remember," I replied coolly. 

"Dawn, it's nice to see you. I have been reviewing your case recently, and I would like to sit down with you and have a talk," Doris suggested, gesturing toward the stool at the counter.

"About what?" I asked suspiciously, opting not to sit.

"About your living conditions. You see, I've put a lot of work and research into this case and I have come to the conclusion that your sister is not capable of remaining your legal guardian," Ms. Kroger answered. I stared at her dumbly for a few moments, unsure of how I should respond. My first reaction was to ask why? But it wasn't all that difficult to understand why. I looked to Buffy for help, but she just stared at the floor, twisting her hands together. 

"I can't stay with Buffy anymore?" I asked quietly. Tears were pooling in my eyes, but I fought to keep them from spilling out. 

"I'm sorry, but I believe that it is in your best interest that you not remain in your sister's care. You deserve a more stable, secure environment."

"But where will I stay?" 

"I have spoken with your father. It has been agreed that you will move to Los Angeles and live with him. Arrangements have already been made for you to enroll in school in LA. Everything will be taken care of. Now if would please, pack your things together. Your father is expecting you. I'm sure Buffy wouldn't mind helping you pack while you say good bye."

"What? You're sending me to live with my father? And he agreed to it? He's never had the time of day for me before! What makes you think that he would be a better parent than Buffy?" I demanded, trying to control my anger. Who did this lady think she was? She knew nothing about my life, or about Buffy's life. So maybe Buffy wasn't Mother of the Year. She was doing the damned best she could, while only slightly preoccupied with saving the world and defending the innocent. And then there was also the whole returning from the dead issue. Buffy's life was just a bit more complicated than your average person's. 

"Your father has said that he would gladly take you into his home, and that you would be able to see Buffy anytime you wished. He even offered for Buffy to live with him as well, but she declined the offer, due to commitments she had here in Sunnydale. I know that your relationship with your father has been strained, but he is completely capable of being a parent and is more financially stable and, in our opinion, more equipped to raise a teenage girl than your sister. We are only doing this because we feel it is in your best interest."

"Of course," I replied sharply. I glared at Buffy, astonished that she was allowing this to happen. She wass the slayer, for Pete's sake! She should have done something!

"I think that you should go pack together the things you would like to bring with you, now," Ms. Kroger suggested firmly. After a moment the situation began to finally set in and I couldn't feel the ground beneath me. Everything was wrong. I couldn't figure out how this could be happening. 

I spun around and stormed up the stairs to my bedroom, slamming the door shut as I entered my room. I collapsed onto my bed and the tears I'd been holding back finally broke through, streaming down my face. 

I wasn't sure how long I sat there just staring at my reflection in the mirror, but eventually I was shaken from my stunned trance when Buffy entered the room.

"Would you like help packing?" she asked, carefully sitting down a few inches away from me.

"No," I replied simply, trying desperately to hold in my anger and resentment. 

"The car that will be driving you to Dad's has arrived. You should probably get your things together," she said quietly, avoiding eye contact.

"Why are you letting them do this? Don't you want me to stay with you? I thought you were supposed to be my protector? What if someone tries to open another hell dimension with me? What if Glory comes back? How am I supposed to live so far away from you? You're all I have!" I sobbed into my hands. I felt Buffy's arms go around me as she tried to provide some form of comfort for me.

"Shh, Dawnie. It will be okay. I did everything I could to convince them you were better off here. I tried everything I could think of! But they still insist that you are going to live with Dad. It won't be so bad, once we get used to it. I'll be able to see you whenever. And you'll get to spend some time with Dad. You know how he loves to spend money on us to make up for missing out on so much. And please don't worry about Glory. She's gone. Forever," Buffy assured me. "If you have any problems, you can call me and I'll be there as soon as I can. If its demon related, and I'm to far away to get there in time, you can always call Angel, who lives in LA. I know this all seems really bad right now, but we just have to make do with what we've been dealt."

"So, you're giving up, just like that?" I asked. I knew that whining wouldn't get me out of this situation, but I was still shocked that Buffy was not trying harder to keep me.

"Dawn, I really tried. I've spent all day talking to anyone that would listen. I just can't excuse certain things about my life that don't add up. And, honestly, they aren't all that wrong about my inability to provide a 'stable environment'. Maybe it's all for the best." 

For the best? She couldn't be serious! And then I realized what she meant. 'The best' for her. No more kid sister to get into her hair. This was her easy way out of premature parenthood. I wouldn't be here to weigh her down anymore. I guess I couldn't really blame her; it seemed I was always in her way.

"Will you help me pack?" I asked as I resigned myself to the fact I was leaving. Buffy stood and walked over to my closet to pull out a suit case, and together we packed all my worldly possessions into my bags, in silence.

*

Dad greeted me at the door as soon as I arrived at his house. He looked older than I remembered him, but that was probably because I hadn't seen him in forever. He hugged me and told me how much he missed me as soon as I entered. I had to struggle to give him a small smile in response. 

Dad took my bags and showed me to the room I was going to be staying in. It was Buffy's old bedroom. He told me that he prepared this room because it was bigger and it had its own bathroom, but I suspected it also had to do with it being farther from his room than my old room, which I didn't mind. 

He rested my bags on my new bed and offered to help me unpack. I declined and he explained that he had to go finish up some work, but that we would have dinner together in a few hours. I gave him a weak nod and, with that, he left me alone in my new room. Sitting down on my bed, I tried to take everything in. The faster I adjusted, the easier it would be on everyone, including myself, Ms. Kroger had said. I was starting school at Hemery High School on Monday. They were just picking me up out of the life I was in and setting me back down in a new one. Yeah, adjusting, that'll be a cinch. 

A few hours later, Dad and I ate dinner together in the kitchen. He asked me about my, and Buffy's, life and asked me about my likes and dislikes. I tried to keep my answers to one or two words. I didn't really feel all that up to conversation. After dinner, I retired to my room, opting to be alone rather than continue the awkward silences with my father. I unpacked my things and went to bed early, crying myself to sleep.

*

Monday arrived faster than I would have liked. I couldn't help but dread the first day at a new school. To transfer into a new school, in the middle of the year, was always the most difficult. Everyone already had their place and you were the only person left without their role. It could be weeks before a new person could finally fit into their new school, and even then, they were facing a huge chance of becoming a complete reject. And all because some stupid social worker couldn't give Buffy the tiniest bit of slack!

When I arrived at school, the main office had given me a schedule and a map of the school and sent me off on my not-so-merry way. I didn't even get a damn tour. They were too busy. The school was enormous, but, thankfully, a boy who appeared to be just a little older, stopped to speak to me. 

"Hi. You're new aren't you?" he asked, giving me a friendly grin.

"Yeah. I'm Dawn Summers," I introduced myself, hoping he might be able to direct me to my first class. He was tall and muscular and had he not possessed one of the friendliest smiles I'd ever seen, I probably would have been intimidated. 

"Well, welcome to Hemery, Dawn. My name is Tim. And judging from the look on your face, I'm guessing you're lost." 

"That obvious? I don't know where my English class is. I don't suppose you have any idea what direction I should head in do you?" I asked, giving him the most helpless look I could muster, praying he would take pity on me and help. He reached out and took my schedule glancing over it quickly. 

"Yeah, room 216. I can take you there. It's just right around the corner," he offered, handing my schedule back to me.

"Thanks." 

"No problem. So you're a freshman? Where did you transfer from?" Tim asked, making polite conversation as he led me down the corridor. 

"Yeah. I'm from Sunnydale. What grade are you in?" 

"Me? I'm a junior. I've heard of Sunnydale before I think. They have a lot of weird occurrences, don't they?"

"Yeah, you could say that," I answered, stifling a laugh. Talk about understatements.

"Well, here you are." Tim indicated the room in front of us. "Maybe I'll see you at lunch or something."

"Yeah, thanks for showing me around," I said, giving him a small wave. 

"No problem. Good luck today." He smiled again before turning and walking in the opposite direction. Heading into the classroom I began my first class at Hemery, thinking maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all.

*

My first few classes flew by and before I knew it, it was time for lunch. This was to be a critical moment in my high school career. If I were able to find a group of people who would let me sit with them, then they could quite possibly be my new friends in time. If I couldn't, I could be doomed to lonely lunches until graduation. I hoped that I would spot Tim in the cafeteria. He was the only person I had really spoken to all day, and hopefully he wouldn't mind if I joined him at lunch. Of course, I was still just a lowly freshman; it was possible he would not want to be associated with me. 

As I entered the cafeteria, bagged lunch in hand, I didn't see Tim anywhere, nor did I see any empty tables. Gazing around the cafeteria, I tried to look for anyone that looked friendly enough to approach. It wasn't going to be easy to just invite myself to sit anywhere. 

"Hey, you look lost again," I heard a familiar voice say from behind me. I turned around to see Tim and his dazzling smile again.

"Yeah, I kinda am," I answered, never more glad to see someone in my life.

"Follow me," he instructed and walked down the isle to a table at the back of the cafeteria. There were three people already seated at the table, casually conversing with each other, while eating their lunches. Tim plopped down into a chair at the table and gestured for me to do the same.

"Hey guys, this is Dawn. She's new here. Dawn this is Josh, Connor, and Emily," Tim introduced, pointing to each person as he said their name. 

"Hi Dawn, it's nice to meet you," said the girl sitting across from me, Tim had introduced as Emily. She twirled one of her blonde pigtails around her finger and gave me a bright smile.

"Hi, nice to meet you as well," I answered quietly. 

Josh smiled and nodded to me in way of acknowledgement, as he ran his fingers through his tousled, light brown hair. "Tim we don't have a chem. test, do we?"

"I don't know. Do I normally keep track of those types of things?" Tim responded with a shrug.

"I'm telling you we do! You two are hopeless; you never study. Don't come crying to me when you flunk off the wrestling team," Emily said in an exasperated tone of voice. Both boys shrugged and dismissed her warning. I noticed that the boy who had been introduced as Connor remained silent. He didn't attempt to acknowledge me, rather eyed me suspiciously throughout the lunch period.

"So, where ya from, Dawn?" Emily asked, drawing my attention away from Connor. 

"Sunnydale," I answered shyly. I could feel Connor's eyes still on me, and I was beginning to grow nervous of him.

"Why'd you move to LA?" Josh continued the questioning. 

"It's where my Dad lives."

"Cool. Have you lived in LA before?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, but we moved when I was kind of young."

"Well, welcome back. We'd be glad to show you around if you want, wouldn't we guys?" Tim suggested, giving me a wide smile. 

"Yeah, do you wanna hang out with us at the mall this weekend? There's lots of stores, but we don't normally actually shop. We just sorta... loiter, I guess. You in?" Emily asked, smiling as well. I beamed with excitement at the prospect of hanging out with them. I didn't expect to make friends so quickly, and was thrilled that I was actually fitting in with them. It seemed I had found a role on the first day. Today wasn't going as terribly as it could have been. 

*

The moment I got home from school, I called Buffy to tell her about my first day at Hemery. I couldn't wait to tell her about the new people I met and my plans for the weekend. Buffy answered on the second ring with a polite "Hello."

"Buffy! It's me, how's everything at home?" I asked; my excitement clearly audible.

"Dawn? Everything is good here. We all miss you so much. How is it going with Dad? And how was your first day at your new school?" 

"I miss you guys too. Dad's boring, but spending a good amount of money on me to make up for the lack of time he's willing to spend. School was pretty good. I met some new people and I'm not too behind in any of my classes. And since I got here I've been living the demon free life," I informed her as I strolled through the kitchen, searching for food to fill my grumbling tummy.

"I'm glad to hear everything is going well. Tell me about your new friends," I listened to her answer as I rummaged through the cupboards. Finding some tasty looking crackers, I slumped down into a chair at the kitchen table, and continued telling Buffy about my day.

"Well, they're not exactly my friends yet, but I hope, eventually, they will be. They invited me to the mall with them on Friday. And I exchanged phone numbers with this girl named Emily. She was really nice. They all were. Well almost all of them." 

"Almost? Who wasn't nice to you? I can beat them up if you want," Buffy joked.

"No! Well, this one kid, his name's Tim, he kinda took me under his wing and introduced me to his friends and Emily and Josh were really nice to me, but his other friend Connor didn't talk to me much and I just got a weird vibe from him. It was nothing though. He wasn't, like, mean or anything," I explained between bites of cracker.

"So, is this Tim guy cute? Do you like him?" Buffy probed.

"Yeah, he's cute, but I don't like him. Not in the crush sense, anyway. Actually, it's just my luck that the cutest guy I met all day, probably one of the cutest I've ever met, is the one who refused to talk to me. Just typical."

"Maybe he's just shy. Give him a chance to warm up. Besides, Hemery is a big school. I'm sure there are tons of guys there for you to have nice, innocent, freshman relationships with this year." 

"Actually, they're all juniors," I told her quietly.

"Juniors?!? There will be no dating of the older men, Dawn Summers! You don't know what goes through the minds of boys at that age," Buffy insisted.

"Oh please! When you were my age your boyfriend was, what, 240 years older than you?" I reminded her. Finishing off my crackers, I left a crumbly mess at the kitchen table for my dad to find when he got home that night. Wandering through the living room, I absently toyed with the figurines on the mantle piece as I awaited Buffy's excuse. She took a minute or so before answering, an obvious sign that I had indeed brought up a valid point. 

"I was older than you! And that was a lot different. And need I remind you how well that relationship worked out?" Buffy retorted, finally.

"Okay, fine. It's not like Connor could even bring himself to speak to me, never mind date me!"

"I just want you to remember to be careful, no matter what. I have to go wrap some stuff up before patrol. Say 'hi' to Dad for me. I love you and I'll talk to you later."

"Okay, I love you too. Bye."

"Bye, Dawnie." 

I plopped down on the over stuffed chair in the living room after placing the cordless phone back on its hook. Thoughts about Tim, Josh, Emily, and especially Connor streamed through my head. I was excited about this weekend, but at the same time nervous. I wasn't sure how I should act, dress, and speak around them. I wanted to please them and be accepted, but I also didn't want them to think I was fake. Ah, the trials and tribulations of being a teenager. I supposed that it was probably best to just be myself around them and hope that they liked me the way I was. At least I would be happiest that way and I hoped they would as well. 

* 

TBC


	2. Part 2

**Author**: ImmatureLittleGirl **Email**: immaturelittlegirl@yahoo.com

**Disclaimer**: The characters in this story belong to the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Joss Whedon and maybe other people, I'm not sure, I just know that I don't own them...

**Summary**: Dawn goes to live with her father in LA and has to learn to live without her sister. Strange coincidences lead her to meet an interesting person. Dawn/Connor

**Rating**: PG-13 I guess.

**AN**: Sorry for the delay in the update.

**PART 2**

Over the course of the week, I grew closer with Emily and I was beginning to feel like one of the group. I sat with Emily, Tim, Josh, and Connor, during lunches and hung around with them in my free time after school. They treated me as if I had been their friend for ages, especially Emily. Initially, Tim had seemed to go out of his way to be my new best friend, but after a few days things between us became more casual, and he began to treat me like his other friends. Emily, however, made it her personal obligation to make sure I felt at home with them. I suspected that Emily just needed a female friend; she seemed to like having me to talk to about "girl stuff", and we took to each other rather quickly. The swift forming friendship between the two of us, was probably the reason I was admitted into the clique, or as Emily liked to call it, the "anti-clique", so quickly. 

It wasn't long before I began to understand the mechanics of the group. Tim appeared to be the leader, although, it was clear to me, most group decisions were made by Emily, Tim just carried things out, and Josh was the comic relief of the group. Connor, or "Mr. Mysterious" as Josh referred to him as, was just that, a complete mystery. He would rarely partake in conversation in my presence, never revealed anything about himself, and watched everything I did and said, with special attention. It was enough to make a girl slightly self-conscious. Emily had assured me that Connor was just weird like that sometimes, and not to take offense to it. 

From what I had gathered over the week, the four of them were well liked around school, but mostly kept to themselves. I also noticed that they were very critical of the popular people in school, particularly Emily. They warned me to stay away from them and even claimed the popular people were evil. Oh, if they only knew. I couldn't help but wonder what it was about me that drew their attention, but I was grateful that they had decided to adopt me as a friend, after seeing first hand, how shallow some of my fellow students could be. It seemed as if some of them spent more time studying the latest issue of _Cosmo_ or _Vogue_ than they did their actual homework. 

After only a week, I had developed stronger friends than I had ever really had in Sunnydale. Tim, Josh, and Emily even went as far as to claim me as the baby of the group. Josh had stated at lunch one day that every substantial clique had a 'baby,' even the Spice Girls. This had, of course, received a slap across the arm from Emily, who expressed her supreme dislike for the Spice Girls and refused to be involved in any comparison to them. From then on, Josh had refused to call me by any name other than Rugrat. The irony in this was not lost on me. Although the constant reminder of our age difference was slightly annoying, I kind of liked having a pet name. It really made me feel like one of the group. 

The only person that really didn't seem to be receiving me well was Connor. 

*

The week sped by quickly and before I knew it, it was Friday. At lunch, Tim filled me in on exactly what they did on Friday nights, which was, from my understanding, nothing. Your typical night out for them consisted of loitering at the mall. There was a little more to the plan for that night. Tim explained that in an attempt to impress me, they had come up with a few things that might be fun and legal to do. The plan was to go to the mall for dinner and from there, to either go bowling, go to the arcade, get ice cream, or any combination of the previously mentioned. From my perspective, it didn't sound terribly well planned out, but I was flattered that they went as far as to make any preparation on my behalf. 

The moment I got home from school, I flew through the house and to my bedroom. I had worried about what to wear all week but still had not yet decided on what to wear. I immediately ripped my closet door open and began tossing articles of clothing all over my room.

After close to twenty minutes of considering every piece of clothing I owned, I had narrowed it down to two of my favorite outfits. A knock sounded at my bedroom door, drawing my attention away from my attire momentarily. 

"Come in," I called, distractedly.

"Dawn, are you going out somewhere tonight?" Dad asked, looking around my room in surprise.

"Yeah. Remember, I told you at the beginning of the week," I reminded him.

"Oh, I must have forgotten. I'll be going out tonight too. I'm not sure what time I'll be home… probably late. Make sure you bring a key with you, so you can get in the house. Oh, and try not to be out too late," he suggested. 

"'Kay, Dad. See you later." I wasn't terribly surprised by his lack of parental concern with where I would be and who with. He had never really seemed very concerned with Buffy's life when she was a teenager, until she burned down the gym, that is. I sometimes wonder what it would take to get his attention. My cry for help would have to some how top Buffy's incendiary tendencies. Those were some mighty big shoes to fill.

"Have fun. See you tomorrow," Dad responded as he left the room shutting the door behind him.

Turning my attention back to the clothing, I grabbed the two outfits that had been lying on my bed, and threw them on the floor. Suddenly my mood had changed and the thought of wearing a pink sweater at that moment was revolting. I picked a slightly wrinkled pair of black flares and a red tee shirt up off the floor. I had decided against them earlier that afternoon, but they then seemed perfectly appropriate. I threw them on quickly and pulled my hair up into a ponytail. After putting on a little makeup and grabbing some cash, I headed for the door to wait for my ride.

* 

Josh's small black Toyota Celica pulled up in front of my house just a little after seven o'clock. I hurried out the front door and got into the front seat of his car. Emily was sitting in the back with her feet kicked up on the console between the two front seats. 

"Hey Rugrat, sorry we're a little late. _Somebody_ couldn't decide on what to wear" Josh said, pointedly looking at Emily in his rear view mirror, and tugging gently on her baggy gray pants.

"You certainly didn't seem to mind watching me change a dozen times," Emily responded not looking up from the CD's she was flipping through. Josh smirked with amusement, but remained silent. It seemed I was missing some significant piece of the puzzle, but for the moment I chose to ignore it. 

"So Dawn, will it be Tsunami Bomb or Alkaline Trio?" Emily asked, looking to me expectantly. 

"Uh, no. Dropkick Murphy's. It's my car, we listen to my music," Josh stated firmly.

"Now that's rude! Josh, this is Dawn's first night out with us and you aren't even going to let her pick the music?" Emily questioned disapprovingly. 

"Okay Rugrat, you pick," Josh replied after a moment of contemplation.

"Tsunami Bomb," whispered Emily from the back seat. 

"I, uh, don't know any of those bands," I answered. Honestly, I really had never heard of any of the names they mentioned, but I was thankful for the excuse not to get stuck in the middle of an argument.

"In that case, you'll love Dropkick Murphy's," Josh assured me as he grabbed a CD and slid it into the car stereo. Loud music began to blast from the speakers, but I found that the sound wasn't all that unpleasant. I even kind of liked it.

"Grumble, Grumble." Emily gave an exaggerated pout and crossed her arms over her chest in protest.

"Aww, isn't she adorable when she's angry?" Josh asked me sarcastically. Emily responded by raising her middle finger and waving it in Josh's direction, he just smiled smugly and returned his attention to the road.

*

The ride to the mall had consisted of about fifteen minutes of bickering and flirting between Emily and Josh. When we finally arrived at the mall, Tim and Connor greeted us. They were seated on the stairs of the mall entrance, quietly talking while they waited for us. However, the moment I came within hearing distance, Connor stopped talking and it appeared that their conversation came to an abrupt halt. Tim stood to greet us as we approached, and Connor reluctantly followed suit. 

"Hey, you guys finally showed. What took so long?" Tim asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Blame Emily," Josh replied jokingly.

"Oh, fine. Blame me. What else is new?"

"Whatever, I'm starving. Let's get food!" Tim shouted, turning and running off in the opposite direction. I followed Emily and Josh who walked at a more casual pace to the food court. Connor followed behind us all, almost as if he had to make sure that he watched me. I could tell that he still didn't trust me, the way that he eyed me suspiciously. I just hoped that this strange behavior would end soon.

When we finally got to the food court, everyone went in their own directions to find dinner. I followed Emily to a pizza place and bought a slice of cheese pizza, as did Emily. After purchasing our meals, Emily led me back to their table, for us to find not only the three boys seated in their normal spots, chowing down on dinner, but also three girls I recognized as freshmen at our school. They were leaning over the table, giggling immaturely at some joke Tim had just made.

"Great, just what I wanted to deal with tonight, the fan club," Emily remarked sarcastically with a role of her eyes. The redhead seated at the table beside Connor placed her hand on his upper arm and leaned in to whisper something seductively in his ear. A jealousy rose up from deep within me at the sight, which was completely insane considering he apparently couldn't stand me. It frustrated me to think about how strong my feelings for him had developed, and yet he didn't care; didn't even like me. 

As her lips formed quiet words mere centimeters from his ear, his eyes rose up to meet mine, and, for a moment, it felt as if he was looking directly inside of me. Caught off guard by the stare, I couldn't draw my eyes away from his. It felt as though he was reading my thoughts. He must have been able to tell; I couldn't have been any more obvious. I felt my cheeks grow hot with embarrassment and looked away hastily, trying desperately to cover up the damage that had already been done. Glancing over to Emily, I could see she wasn't terribly pleased with the girls' display either. 

"Hey," Emily greeted the guys as she approached the table giving the two girls speaking with Josh an intimidating glare. Seeing that the seat beside Josh, that I guessed was normally Emily's, was already taken, she placed her plate on the table and plopped down into Tim's lap across from Josh. 

"Hey," Tim echoed, rubbing her arm gently as a sign of greeting, before turning his attention back to the girls. I noticed Josh's interest in Emily perk up the moment she climbed into Tim's lap, which, I gathered, was her intention. 

I chanced a glance back at Connor, who was still staring at me. The girl beside him had also taken note of his concentration and glared at me with annoyance.

"Would you like to sit?" Connor asked me, standing as he offered me his chair. My heartbeat began to quicken as he looked at me expectantly for an answer. A small smirk appeared in the corner of his mouth, which only furthered my supposition that he could read my thoughts.

"Uh… Thanks," I replied dumbly. He pulled out his chair for me and stepped around the table to grab another chair from a nearby empty table and dragged it over to the corner of our table for himself. Now why didn't I think of that?

Picking at the cheese on my pizza, I found it hard to eat anything when I could feel Connor's eyes studying me. Looking around the table, I noticed Josh and Emily shooting daggers at each other with their eyes. I'd have to remember to ask Emily what was up between them later. Continuing my survey of the table I recognized that the other girls didn't seem to be terribly thrilled with Emily's presence either. In fact, it seemed the only person at the table who appeared to be comfortable with the situation was Tim, who was completely ignorant of the tense atmosphere. 

After taking a few bites of my dinner, I decided to scrap it hoping that maybe someone else would soon follow my lead and we could get out of there. Emily looked up at me once I disposed of my food and gave me a sympathetic look. 

"Ya know, I think we should get going. I don't want to waste all night in the food court," Emily remarked, standing and getting ready to leave. 

"Okay, let's hit the arcade. You guys wanna come with?" Tim asked, directing the question at the blonde that had been flirting mercilessly with him since we sat down. Emily elbowed him gently, trying to gain his attention, but he ignored the gesture.

"That'd be great. Right guys?" the girl responded, looking to her friends for support. 

"Actually, we should probably get going," answered the redhead that had given up on Connor some time ago. "You go ahead though. We'll catch ya tomorrow."

"Well, okay then. Bye."

Emily gave them a rather unfriendly wave good bye, and then began walking quickly in the direction of the arcade. I was forced to hasten my pace, in order to keep up with her.

"Good God, they are annoying. I don't know how the guys can be so impressed with their vapid prattle about nothing," Emily fumed.

"I agree they are annoying, but why are you so pissed off?" I inquired, falling into pace beside her.

"I'm not pissed off," Emily insisted snapping her neck around to look at me for a moment. "Okay, so maybe I'm the teensiest bit ticked. I don't know why."

"Could it maybe have something to do with the girl who had her arms draped around Josh?"

"No! Of course not! Josh and I are so very much over," Emily stated firmly.

"But you were something?" 

"Yeah, but it didn't work out," she admitted. 

"I'm sorry. It's still okay to feel a little jealous, though. I mean I probably would. I think he was a little jealous too."

"You noticed that too, huh? He does that cute little twitchy smile thing when he gets jealous. Wow, am I pathetic? I need to get over this! We broke up over a month ago."

"Well, if you still like each other, maybe you don't have to get over it. Maybe you could make up, or something," I suggested.

"If only it were that simple. We should slow down we're way ahead of them," Emily commented looking back. Walking over to the side, we waited for the other four to catch up. 

"So, what's with you and Connor?" Emily asked abruptly.

"What? Nothing," I answered in confusion, as I sat down beside her on the long wooden bench. 

"Come on, I've seen you guys staring at each other. What's the deal?" 

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Fine, whether you know it or not, you like him. I can see it, I'm not blind, and neither is Tim," Emily persisted. I guessed I really had been obvious. I could really use some work in the art of subtlety. 

"What do you mean by Tim?" I questioned, wondering what he could have had to do with it.

"Well, he obviously picked up on the vibe between you and Conner if he backed off of you."

"What do you mean 'backed off'?"

"Please, tell me you couldn't possibly be that naïve. Tim was trying desperately to pick you up at first. But hey, don't worry about it. He's over it, and honestly, for your sake, that's a good thing," Emily admitted. I looked at her in confusion, unable to respond. "I mean, he is a great friend. But when it comes to girls he's kinda'… uncommitted." 

"Oh. You mean he's like the love'em and leave'em type?" I asked, finally getting her implications. She nodded in response. 

"In the physical sense, if you know what I mean. I didn't tell you this so that you would think he's a bad guy though, I mean he's really a great bud. I just wanted to make sure you're careful. Anyways, I doubt he would do anything to hurt you, especially now. You're one of us. You fit in so well, it's eerie." 

"Really? Thanks," I replied with appreciation. She smiled warmly, and then directed her attention in the way of Josh and Connor, who were now only steps behind us.

*

The arcade in the mall was bigger than any I had ever seen before. There must have been every kind of video game imaginable, available there. Tim gave each of us a little credit card with ten dollars worth of games on them, because his uncle was the manager and he was able to get them for free. It seemed like the moment everyone had there cards, they knew exactly what they wanted to do and took off in their own direction, leaving me to wander around the enormous arcade by myself. 

Initially, I wasn't sure what I should do; the sights and sounds were a bit overwhelming. The flashing lights and different noises, on top of the dozens of people milling around, would have been enough to cause someone to have a seizure. But after a few minutes of exploration I found some interesting video games to play. I went through half my money in only twenty minutes, finding that certain games were down right addictive. 

Deciding it best that I find one of the gang before I wasted all my money, I began searching through the masses of people. I spotted Emily and Josh in a corner in the back of the arcade, engaging in what appeared from afar to be some serious flirting. Thinking it best not to interrupt, I continued my search for a few more minutes. Eventually, I found Tim playing a racecar game with the girl from the food court, whom I still didn't know the name of. I watched for a minute or so before Tim noticed me watching over his shoulder.

"Hey Rugrat! Having fun?" Tim asked, turning his attention to me for a moment.

"Yeah, this place is really cool. I haven't seen anything like it before. They don't have arcades like this in Sunnydale," I remarked.

"I bet. Well, then we have succeeded in our main goal tonight; 'Impress Dawn'. We just didn't want you to find out what big losers we are just yet," Tim joked, smiling playfully. For some reason, now it wasn't really all that surprising to know that Tim was kind of a womanizer. He was so charming at times I could imagine it wouldn't be difficult to fall into his traps. Although, to think of Tim as the type to set traps, didn't really fit well either. I suppose that his innocent façade was probably why girls fell for him though. 

"Well, I must say, I am impressed." Tim smiled again in return, and then swiped his card through the game to play again. I continued to watch for a few minutes, until I saw Connor out of the corner of my eye. I debated whether or not to approach him for a moment, but then decided that it couldn't hurt.

Connor was standing in front of the game 'Mortal Combat', battling his heart out, but failing miserably. I stood in back of him and watched as he had his ass kicked three times by his computerized opponent. He was even worse at video games than Giles, which I hadn't thought possible. 

"Stupid game," he mumbled under his breath, still unaware of my presence. I chuckled quietly at his remark, which caused him to spin around quickly. He took an immediate step away as soon as he saw it was I and gave me a look mixed with annoyance and suspicion. "I didn't notice you there," he stated evenly, without emotion. 

"Sorry. Mind if I give it a try?" I asked, stepping toward the game. He stood back and watched as I swiped my card and selected my player. I wasn't very familiar with the game, but I had played it with Xander a few times before, so I had an idea of how the game went. When the simulated battle began, it took me a moment to get the hang of the game, but I caught on quickly and was able to swiftly crush my challenger. I turned to see Connor's reaction after the screen read that I had won. His jaw was hanging open and he stared at the screen in shock. 

"Where'd you learn to do that?" he demanded, swiveling in my direction. 

"I don't know, I guess I've just played a lot of Playstation in my time."

"What's Playstation?" he questioned looking at me, confusion evident on his face.

"You're kidding, right?" I asked. When he didn't respond, I realized he was serious. What kind of poor deprived child doesn't know what a Playstation is? No wonder he didn't seem to be very well adjusted. "It's a video game system. One you hook up to your TV and play at home."

"Oh… Do it again," Connor ordered motioning to the game again.

"Uh, ok," I responded, slightly confused. No, definitely not well adjusted. 

I swiped the card through the slot again and demonstrated how to defeat the opponent again, doing so even more rapidly than the first try. Connor watched in fascination, while I won in round after round. As the minutes passed, I could feel Connor stepping gradually closer to me. He didn't appear to be aware of his progression toward me. After a few more minutes, he placed his hand on my lower back as he leaned in over my shoulder. I jumped slightly at the sudden contact, and felt his hand tremble slightly, then pull away. A strange feeling of warmth flowed through me when we touched and the skin on the small of back still tingled where his hand had been. I had never felt anything like it before. 

"You lost," Connor mumbled quietly, drawing my attention back to reality. I looked back up at the video screen to see my character lying on the ground. I hadn't noticed that he had been killed, once I lost my concentration. 

"Yeah," I muttered in response. I turned around to see him standing closer to me than I had realized. His face was less than a foot away from mine, closer than I would usually stand near someone under normal circumstances. Strangely enough, the close proximity to him was actually comforting, rather than awkward. 

"You're good," he remarked looking back to the game. 

"Thanks." We stood together for another moment before I noticed Emily watching us out of the corner of my eye. I took a step away from him, beginning to feel slightly self-conscious about the entire situation. "Maybe we should go catch up with everybody," I suggested, nodding in Emily's direction. She mouthed the words 'I told you so' from across the room and gave me a smug grin. Connor looked back and forth between us, giving me one of his characteristic suspicious looks. 

A few minutes later, we regrouped and decided that it was about time to call it a night. It was closing in on eleven already and the exhaustion of the long day was beginning to set in. We said our goodbyes to each other then split up to go home. By the time we reached Josh's car I was about ready to collapse. 

The drive home from the mall was completely silent. I could tell from everyone's slow and groggy mood, I wasn't the only one who was beginning to feel tired. 

"Didja' have any fun tonight?" Josh asked as he pulled the car in front of my house.

"Yeah, thanks for bringing me along," I replied as I swung the door open. 

"Don't mention it."

"Talk to you later, Dawn," Emily called from the back seat. 

"Yeah. Goodnight." I yawned before shutting the door and heading into the house. 

I climbed into bed the moment I got in the door. It had been a long time since I had felt as drained as I did, for reasons unrelated to the supernatural. In fact, it had been a long time since I had taken part in anything unrelated to the supernatural. It was as if tonight, was the first night, of the rest of my life. And the rest of my life was beginning to look a little more normal than it had last month. 

*

~TBC~


	3. Part 3

**Author**: ImmatureLittleGirl **Email**: immaturelittlegirl@yahoo.com

**Disclaimer**: The characters in this story belong to the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Joss Whedon and maybe other people, I'm not sure, I just know that I don't own them...

**Summary**: Dawn goes to live with her father in LA and has to learn to live without her sister. Strange coincidences lead her to meet an interesting person. Dawn/Connor

**Rating**: PG-13 I guess.

**AN**: I fudged the timelines a little bit to make it work. It's somewhere in Season 6 of Buffy and Season 4 of Angel, I think.

**PART 3**

Monday morning couldn't have begun any worse. I forgot to set my alarm clock before going to sleep the night before. My father woke me, when he noticed my absence from breakfast, allowing me only five minutes to dress, brush my teeth and hair, and be out the door and in the car. I could only imagine what a wreck I must have looked when I arrived at school. My foul mood and appearance could have been used for human repellant. Nonetheless, Emily skipped merrily down the hall to greet me with a wide smile the moment she noticed me. What was it with morning people?

"Hey Dawn!" Emily beamed. She was so cheery; almost too cheery. Her smile was beginning to frighten me.

"Hey," I echoed, uneasily. She continued to stare at me intently. Immediately, I suspected she might be some sort of human-brain-eating-demon, the way she eyed me like I was her prey. There's a sure sign you've been living on the hell mouth too long, kids.

"How're you?" she asked politely as she bounced on the balls of her feet, excitedly.

"Just peachy keen. You?" I replied sarcastically.

"Great!"

"So I can see." I began to walk down the hall toward my locker as she walked beside me.

"So, Dawn…" she began, nervously playing with the many necklaces tied around her neck. "Are you by any chance seeing anyone?" I quickly swiveled to look at her with surprise. For a moment she waited for my answer, before she quickly rushed on to clarify. "No! I didn't mean I wanted to know for me. I mean I wondered, but not cause I was interested. Cause I'm not! Not that there's anything wrong with… But I didn't…" she stuttered as she tried to explain. 

"I'm not 'seeing anyone'. Why did you want to know?" I interrupted her ramblings, giving her a small smile.

"Well, I was just wondering, cause Connor kept askin' all these questions about you last night and I thought, maybe he liked you. So, I was just wondering if you had a boyfriend already, 'cause I realized, I never asked before," Emily finally explained. 

"Oh. What kind of questions did he ask?" My interest picked up once she mentioned Connor.

"Well… The questions were a little strange, but he's kind of a strange boy. But strange in a good way! He wanted to know where you were from and he wondered about your family and if I noticed anything 'different' about you," Emily reported.

"Different about me?" What kind of question was that?

"I know. Like I said, he's a little strange. But he doesn't normally show interest in girls. I mean he's not gay or anything. At least, I don't think he is. I've caught him staring at pretty girls before, so I'm fairly certain he's at least attracted to them. But he almost never talks about them, unless he's commenting on their lack of substance or personality. Basically, what I'm trying to say is, he's showing interest toward YOU."

"Me? Why me?" I questioned, unsure how to respond. 

"So, you're not interested?" Emily's voice was full of disappointment. 

"No, I didn't say that. I'm just not sure why he would show that kind of interest in me. He never says anything to me; he just kind of stares at me. I kinda' get the feelin' he's giving me this whole not-welcome vibe," I explained.

"Why would you think that? I mean sometimes, granted, he's a bit intense. But I don't think he was trying to make you feel unwelcome. Maybe he was staring at you cause he thought you were cute!" Emily offered excitedly. I could see she had her mind set on this matchmaker thing. I was actually a little excited by the thought of being matched up with Connor, too. I mean he was majorly hot, with the whole dark and mysterious look. But the thought of him also set off little warning bells in my head. What were his interests in my origins about? And exactly what about me did he sense was different? 

"Maybe," I replied, evasively.

*

For hours, I tried to convince myself that Connor was an average teenage boy who was showing interest in an average teenage girl. However, I knew I wasn't your average teenage girl and I was beginning to wonder if Connor was actually the average teenage boy he appeared to be. He told Emily that he had noticed something 'different' about me. He couldn't be picking up on the fact that I was the key, could he? Or maybe, he knew of the slayer. Or maybe, I am just one really paranoid individual.

I spent the morning drifting in my thoughts and didn't really come back down to earth until lunchtime. The others were already at the table once I entered the cafeteria.

"A fifty-six? Is she insane? Shit! If I don't pass the next test, I'll be off the team," I heard Josh holler, as I approached the table.

"I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so," Emily replied wearing a smug smirk. 

"Oh, shut up!"

"I told you both there was a test. I warned you both to make sure you studied. And what do you do? You fail it! It serves you both right!"

"Obviously, I missed something," I interrupted, as I sat down in at the lunch table beside Tim.

"Josh and Tim failed their chemistry tests," Emily filled me in.

"Nuh-uh. I didn't fail, I gotta sixty-nine. My favorite number," Tim corrected, giving a mischievous smirk.

"Uh, congratulations?" was the best response I could come up with.

"Okay, I'll do better on the next test," Tim promised. "It's not like I'd take the chance of dropping off the wrestling team."

"The next test is tomorrow, Tim," Emily reminded him.

"Oh. I guess I'll be at the library tonight cramming. You in Josh?"

"Can't. I have to watch my sister."

"Well, anyone else have any studying they want to get done? I don't really fancy sitting in the library, like a loser, by myself all night."

"I'll go with you, Tim," I offered. "I have to start a research paper for history, anyway."

"Great! You're the best," Tim said, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I smiled and leaned into him slightly, until I looked up to meet Connor's cold glare. Our eyes only connected for a moment before he looked down and away from me. For a moment, I considered the possibility that, just maybe, he was feeling a little jealous. But then again, this was the boy that had trouble speaking more than a sentence to me, at a time. Maybe I just over analyze everything he does too much. But on the other hand, Emily had noticed him 'noticing me' too. Geesh, boys could be so confusing sometimes.

"So, did you guys hear about that winter semi-formal in a couple of weeks?" Emily asked, changing the subject. 

"Semi-formal? Damn. You're going to make us go, aren't you?" Josh whined. 

"We heard. I've actually already been lining up possible prospects for dates. There was Nikki, the blonde from the mall. But her redheaded friend Sam was cuter," Tim explained.

"Too bad the redhead wants Connor," Josh reminded Tim teasingly.

"What?" Connor asked, looking over to Josh, questioningly.

"She was all over you man, she wants you," Josh answered, matter-of-factly. 

"No," Connor denied.

"See, Connor doesn't want her. So I can have her. He can have her back when I'm done, if he wants." Tim seemed pleased with his plan. The absurdity of it was almost humorous. 

"I'd rather not," Connor stated, looking at Tim as if he had three heads.

"Come on, Connor. We really need to get you laid. You're too uptight," Josh said with a chuckle. Connor responded by glaring at him angrily. I could only be grateful I was not on the receiving end of the glare. The look was threatening, possibly deadly. The phrase 'if looks could kill', came to mind. "Geez, lighten up Con. It was a joke," Josh defended. Connor squinted his eyes in irritation before giving an indifferent shrug, and gathered his books together.

"I have to go. Bye." Connor stood, and headed for the exit.

"Tim, you really know how to pick'em," Josh mumbled under his breath, once he could see that Connor was out of the cafeteria. 

"I know, but what on earth was I thinking when I befriended you?" Tim retorted.

"Uh, hey, I have to go do something. I'll meet you after school, okay?" I asked Tim, as I stood and gathered all my books. I wanted to see if I could catch up with Connor. I didn't know what I would say if I did, I wasn't even sure why I wanted to see him. I just wanted to try and catch him.

I darted out of the cafeteria and caught a quick glimpse of Connor ducking into the library at the other end of the corridor. I followed down the hall and pushed the doors to the library open, hoping to spot him immediately. To my surprise, I discovered the library was much larger than the Sunnydale High library. Scanning the room, I searched for any sign of Connor, but found none. With a sigh, I began wandering up and down the rows of books hoping to find him. 

I tried to look as inconspicuous as possible as I searched row after row of books, not even sure why I was looking for him.

"You're following me," I heard a voice from in back of me say. I spun around to see him standing not quite a dozen feet from where I was. He watched me guardedly from behind his tousled brown hair.

"I was just trying to catch up with you," I explained, suddenly growing nervous of his presence.

"Why?" he asked, running a hand through his hair as he took a few steps toward me.

"I j-just wanted to talk to you," I stuttered, involuntarily stepping backward, away from him.

"About what?"

"I… About…" I couldn't process thoughts; words were jumbling and I was desperately grasping to form a sentence. He tilted his head to the side, examining me curiously. The gesture was less threatening, and I forced myself to take a breath and speak to him. "I wanted to know if I did something that offended you. If there was a reason you disliked me so much," I finally managed to answer.

"I didn't say I disliked you."

"But you're always so… cold… towards me."

"Cold?" he echoed, still eyeing me with a curious look in his eye. 

"Cold, ya know, withdrawn, uninterested, wary, even occasionally irritated. Why is that?" I asked, gaining courage.

"There are a lot of things in this world that are not what they seem. Life experience has taught me that those characteristics you described, are necessary in order to survive," he responded harshly, the cold, mistrusting look entering his eyes again. 

"What do you mean by that?" 

The bell sounded after my question, just as I was beginning to get somewhere with Mr. Mysterious. 

"I have class," he stated, then turned and was gone seconds later.

*

At the close of school, I found Tim waiting for me at my locker.

"So, did you catch up with him?" Tim asked as I approached him and began fiddling with the combination on my locker.

"What makes you think I was going after him?" Apparently, I am the most transparent person alive. Tim raised his eyebrows at me, as if to imply it was obvious. "I caught up with him, but it didn't do any good." 

"You like him don't you?" Tim questioned, staring at me intently.

"I think so," I whispered quietly. I could feel my cheeks reddening, but there was really little point in denying it anymore. 

"Damn," Tim murmured, dropping his back against the lockers beside mine. I looked at him questioningly, confused by his behavior. 

"Why 'damn'?"

"I think you can guess why," he answered flatly. 

"Oh, right. I was going to be next on your list. Look, Emily warned me about your games and stuff. And even if she hadn't, I'd like to think I have enough intelligence not to fall for that. Really Tim, I honestly thought you had more respect for me than that."

"Dawn, you would never have been 'next on my list'. I do have far too much respect for you, for that. I've just grown so tired of these shallow girls that I'm surrounded by. It just figures that when I finally find a girl that I really like, who is beautiful, kind, funny, and cute, she has a thing for my best friend instead," Tim admitted, shocking me completely. 

We both stood silently for a moment. I tried to think of how to respond to him, but nothing would come to mind. It wasn't that I didn't find Tim attractive; he was the poster boy for good looks. But I couldn't ignore whatever it was I felt for Connor; the connection was just too strong. 

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, hoping that somehow the apology would miraculously take some of the tension out of the air. It didn't, of course.

"Yeah, me too," Tim agreed. "We need to go start studying," Tim reminded me after a moment.

"Right." I grabbed my books and slammed my locker closed, following Tim down the corridor.

*

The library seemed to be even bigger than it had been earlier that afternoon, now that I was hunting for books and materials rather than a person. The librarian, a grouchy, elderly woman, had directed me to a row of books in the corner of the library. There she told me I would be able to find my information. The row of books was enormous and I couldn't help feeling overwhelmed as I searched through the stacks for some resources. 

After almost fifteen minutes, I found my way back to Tim's table with a few books on the topic of the Fall of Rome. There had actually been dozens of books on the subject, but only the few I had brought back to the table, appeared to be written in a modern language I actually understood. 

I plopped down in the seat across from Tim and began flipping through the texts, jotting down notes on key facts that I wanted to mention in my paper. The minutes flowed by rapidly and soon enough, I had enough information to begin writing.

"Good God, could chemistry possibly be more boring?" Tim interrupted with an irritated sigh.

"I'm sorry. I wouldn't know."

"Well, enjoy your chemistry-free life while it lasts. Yeah, those were the good ol' days," Tim joked, slamming his book closed and pillowing his head on his folded arms. The discomfort between Tim and I over our previous awkward conversation was beginning to fade, which I couldn't have been more thankful about. 

"Ya know, this is the second time today I've been in the library. I'm turning into my sister," I commented as the thought occurred to me. 

"I see, so she's a book worm?" Tim inferred.

"Not exactly. But she spent a lot of time at the library." Tim gave a short chuckle. 

"Not that it's any of my business but, what happened? Why were you taken away from your sister? If you don't mind my asking?" Tim asked after a short pause.

"My mother died last year, so my sister took custody of me. My dad didn't really care. He didn't even come to her funeral. Then things just got complicated. Buffy had too many responsibilities. I just had to be the one she had to give up. So they sent me off to burden my father instead," I answered, unable to keep the bitterness out of my voice.

"I'm sorry," Tim replied, sympathetically. "I think I've gotten in enough studying tonight. You almost ready to go?" 

"Yeah. I've got enough information now." I gathered all my books and threw them into my bag.

"I don't have my car with me. It's been making this weird noise lately, so I just took the bus this morning, figuring I could take it home, so I have to walk. Do you want me to walk you home? The sun's just set so it's dark, do you know your way around yet? Never mind, I'll just go with you. LA's probably a little rougher than Sunnydale, and I don't want you to get into any trouble," Tim explained as we exited the library, and headed for the front entrance. 

"I'm fine. Believe me, I know how to handle myself. I'm sure I can manage to find my way home by myself. You aren't my caretaker," I insisted.

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea."

"Well, too bad. I am. So, you go home, I'll get myself home."

"Fine. Call me if you need anything. And be careful, if anything happens to you, I'll never forgive myself."

"Nothing is going to happen, silly. I'll see you tomorrow," I assured him, leaving his side and taking off in the direction of my house.

*

I only lived about two and a half miles from the school, and was fairly certain I could find my way home. However, my certainty began to waver fifteen minutes later when I was standing in a section of LA, foreign to me, desperately trying to figure out which way was home. Somehow, I had gotten off track and I wasn't sure if I should keep going or turn back. Spotting a pay phone across the street, I prayed that my father would be home and answer the phone. Surely, by now he was sitting next to the phone wondering where on Earth I was and worrying himself to death over my safety. 

I rummaged through my bag for some quarters and placed enough into the slot, then dialed the house. The phone rang five times, before the answering machine picked up, asking me to leave a message after the tone. 

"Hi, Dad, it's Dawn. I was after school late at the library, and I'm walking home. I'm currently a little, well, lost. I don't know what time I'll be home, if I ever get there. Not that you would notice if I didn't. Well, I'm off now to be raped, mugged, murdered, or any combination of the previously mentioned. Hope you're enjoying your business dinner or whatever the hell it is you are doing," I left as a message on the answering machine. Maybe if something really did happen to me, Ms. Doris Kroger would learn how wrong she really was.

Grabbing the rest of my change, I was about to call Josh to ask for a ride, when I heard a scream in the distance. Instinctively, I reached for the stake I carried with me at all times and started in the direction the scream had come from. As I turned the corner of the building, I saw two, tall, bluish-green, scaly demons assaulting an older woman. I ran as fast as I could to try and help the woman. The demons didn't notice my presence until I stabbed the one holding her up by her hair, in the arm with my stake. The demon let out a roar, and dropped the woman. Both demons now turned to face me, while the woman they had just attacked, ran away as quickly as possible. 

"Gee, you're welcome," I mumbled under my breath, as watched her retreating form. The demon I had stabbed with my stake, yanked it out of his arm and now held it poised to drive through my heart. Nope, this wasn't one of my more well thought out ideas. 

The realization that Buffy wasn't about to come bounding to my rescue occurred to me in that moment, and so I realized I had to make a decision, and quickly. I could fight, or I could die. The options weren't all that pleasant, but I made the obvious decision…

I froze still in fear and waited for the demon to thrust the stake at me. 

With speed I didn't even know I possessed, I stepped to the side just before the stake connected with my flesh, and kicked out my leg with all my strength, sending the demon toppling into his friend. Using a resourcefulness I picked up from Buffy, I found a metal railing post that was practically falling off and ripped it off. Utilizing it as a weapon, I drove the sharp end of the post through the temple of one of the demons lying on the ground, successfully killing the beast. 

The other demon was already back on his feet by the time I retrieved my weapon from the demons skull. He charged at me, his fist connecting with the side of my head before I could do anything to stop him. I fell to the ground landing with a splash in a puddle. Not giving me time to recuperate, the demon ripped me back up to my feet by my hair. I forced the pain I was feeling to the back of my mind, and placed my concentration on simply surviving the battle. I brought my knee up between the demon's legs, and kicked him away from me. 

Taking a step away from the demon, I was given enough time to pull the post back and holding it like a baseball bat; I swung with all my might. The bat connected with his head with a crack and a thud as his body hit the cement again. Taking advantage of the fact that he was still unconscious, I stabbed him in the chest, with the rod, as hard as I could. When his chest ceased it's rising and falling, the pain in my head overtook me, and I stumbled backward, landing in the puddle again. 

Looking around at my surroundings, I didn't know what more I could do, so I began to cry. I had never felt more alone in my life. I didn't have my mom anymore, and I never really had my dad. Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles were too far away to be there for me, even if they could fit it into their busy schedules. And so I sat there, soaked in water and demon guts, crying my eyes out, in the middle of the deserted street. 

"Are you alright?" I jumped when I heard him, recognizing his voice right away. 

"Connor?" I asked, trying desperately to stifle my sobs. He placed his hand on my aching head and I snapped it away from his touch. Trying to scramble away from him, I pushed my way to my feet. The moment I was standing again, the world began to spin, and I felt my knees buckle. His hands were on my upper arms, holding me up before I hit the ground. I felt him guide me a few feet and a moment later I was seated on a case of stairs outside an abandoned building. 

"Are you alright?" Connor repeated, leaving one of his hands on my upper arm, to keep me upright. 

"Yes," I answered nodding. I grasped my head as a sharp pain shot through my skull. I wouldn't be nodding again in the near future. 

"You're going to have a bruise," Connor informed me as he ran his fingers over the side of my head, gently. I didn't answer, just sat quietly trying to concentrate on something other than the nausea that was sweeping over me. "You should see a doctor."

"I just want to go home," I whispered, feeling tears trickle from my eyes again.

"Can you walk?" Connor asked, helping me to my feet.

"Yes." I stood with determination. Connor grabbed me quickly when my footing faltered, and I lost my balance again. 

"Right," he mumbled, putting his arm around my waist and supporting most of my weight. 

The next few minutes passed in silence. I followed his lead, not knowing where he was going, and not caring enough to ask.

"Dawn?" Connor asked quietly. I could hear the uncertainty in his voice.

"Yeah?"

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Connor stopped to look at me, as he waited for my answer. The only thing my mind processed for the first few seconds were the words 'uh-oh'. I scrambled for an excuse, wracking my aching brains for some explanation.

"Uh, too many video games." I liked to think I could have come up with a better answer under different circumstances. He looked at me doubtfully for another minute, and then continued walking in the direction we had been before he stopped.

Looking around, I realized we were already in my neighborhood. I sighed in relief, already fantasizing about climbing into my comfortable, warm bed and passing out for days at a time.

"Do you know what those things were?" Connor questioned, this time not stopping to look at me.

"Nope," I answered, honestly. "Did you?"

"No."

Minutes later we were on my doorstep. I fumbled to get my key into the lock, until Connor took it away from me and slid it in, opening the door. He helped me into the house, where I collapsed into the creamy white over stuffed chair in our living room. Connor stood in front of me, watching me for a moment.

"What?" I asked, irritably. I knew I should be grateful he had gotten me home, otherwise I would still be crying in a puddle in the middle of nowhere, but I just couldn't seem to care at that moment. 

"I should have taken you to a hospital." 

"I'll be fine," I stated firmly. Reaching over to the table I played the messages. I erased the overly dramatic fit I had recorded, as well as my father's lame excuse for not being home. Then fell backwards against the pillows on the chair. I sat with my eyes closed for a minute or two, gathering my thoughts. 

"Thank you," I told Connor, realizing how lucky I had been he was there. Even if it was a little sketchy that he just happened to be there. Hmm, now who was following whom?

"You're welcome," he answered, not moving.

"You can go home now, if you want." I hoped that my remark hadn't come across as rude.

"I don't know if you should be left alone."

"That's sweet, but I'm fine. Really." Connor just stood, his face filled with a look of uncertainty. "Fine, if you want to stay, you can take the couch. My father won't be happy, though. I'm going to go to bed now."

"I think I should just stay until he is home."

"You don't have to baby-sit me, Connor. Aren't your parents going to wonder where you are?"

"I don't have parents," Connor admitted after a brief pause.

"Oh." I suddenly wished I hadn't spoken so sharply towards him.

"If you're alright, I suppose I'll leave."

"Ok. Be careful," I said as I slowly followed him to the front door.

"I'll be fine. Take care of yourself." 

"Wait, Connor, how did you know where I lived?" I asked suddenly as the thought occurred to me.

"You told me when we were sitting on the stairs," he answered quickly.

"Oh."

"Goodnight, Dawn," he bid farewell, before turning and walking off into the night.

I stood for a moment watching him until he was no longer in sight. Suddenly, a thought occurred to me; I was positive I had not told him where I lived. How could he have known? And how was it that he had just happened to find me? I knew he wasn't being honest with me, but there was something about him I trusted. I knew that fact alone was dangerous. 

*

AN: I haven't proof read this very well; I just wanted to put this chapter out. If you see any errors, be sure to let me know. Ooh, and I like feedback. It's proven to be very helpful. J Thank you to all those who have already reviewed, you're great and you're the reason I keep writing. I really appreciate any advice you can offer me.


	4. Part 4

**Author**: ImmatureLittleGirl **Email**: immaturelittlegirl@yahoo.com

**Disclaimer**: The characters in this story belong to the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Joss Whedon and maybe other people, I'm not sure I just know that I don't own them...

**Summary**: Dawn goes to live with her father in LA and has to learn to live without her sister. Strange coincidences lead her to meet an interesting person. Dawn/Connor

**Rating**: PG-13 I guess.

**AN**: Sorry if I confused anyone, I fudged the timelines a little bit to make it work. It's somewhere in Season 6 of Buffy and Season 4 of Angel, I think.

**PART 4**

When my alarm clock went off, I was greeted first thing the next morning with a painful reminder of the previous day's events. I could feel the blood pounding painfully in my skull and the side of my head was sensitive to any harsh touch. I was almost afraid to look in the mirror. Crossing the room gingerly, so as not to wake my father and draw any unneeded attention to myself that morning, I stood in front of my vanity nervously, before finally looking at my reflection. It was just as I had expected; the side of my head was black and blue, starting at my temple and traveling down to my cheekbone and as far back as my ear. Thankfully, if I styled my hair correctly, and used enough foundation, the bruise would be hardly noticeable. 

Grabbing some clean clothes and a towel, I traveled down the hall to the bathroom for a shower. The night before I had been too exhausted and in too much pain to do more than use a damp towel to clean off a bit. That morning I wished I had done more, feeling the mud and dried demon slime, in my hair and on my skin. I had never been filthier in my life. 

After scrubbing myself clean in the shower for almost an hour, I tossed the ruined clothes I had been wearing the night before into the garbage and went to work concealing my bruise. Wearing a particularly thick coat of makeup and brushing my wavy brown hair around the front of my face, left the bruise barely visible. Barely visible, but not invisible. I could only hope that my father was too busy with his work to bother to take notice of the disarray I was in. I finished off my business in the bathroom by downing two Advil, and silently praying the pounding in my head would cease.

I found my way to the kitchen where my father was seated at the table, drinking coffee and reading the morning paper. I casually poured myself a glass of juice and began stuffing books into my bag, as I got ready for school. Every bone and muscle in my body screamed for me to go back to bed, but the last thing I wanted was for my father to get suspicious. I quickly finished off my juice and was about to take off to catch the bus, when I remembered I hadn't packed my lunch. 

"Dad, can I have some money for lunch, today?" I asked, not having the energy to make it myself.

"Sure honey, wait one second while I get my wallet," my dad replied, getting up from the table and leaving the room for a moment. He was back only a minute later. Riffling through his wallet, he produced a five-dollar bill and held it out for me. 

"Thanks," I mumbled, grabbing the money and my bag, and heading toward the door.

"Wait a minute. What happened to your face?" he asked grabbing a hold of my arm. I froze still for a moment, trying to think of a suitable answer. "Did someone hit you?" he pursued, when I didn't answer his first question.

"Uh, it's not a big deal. I'm fine," I answered, evading his question.

"Who did this to you?" I could hear his voice growing angry.

"I don't know." 

"What do you mean you don't know? You just woke up and found a massive bruise on your face and you don't remember where it came from?" He was now yelling.

"No. I just didn't know the person. I got lost on the way home from school yesterday and then this… big ugly guy… he tried to… steal my stuff. Yeah, he tried to steal my bag, and he hit me." It wasn't that far off from the truth. I supposed it was a bit of a stretch though.

"And you weren't going to tell me? Are you all right? Did he do anything else to you?" my father asked frantically. A look crossed through his eyes I might have characterized as fear. But since when did he start caring about my well-being?

"I'm fine. You weren't home when I got home last night and I went straight to bed. When I woke up this morning I felt better, so I didn't even think to tell you."

"You're not in any pain?"

"No," I lied.

"Why don't I give you a ride to school today?"

"No thanks, the bus is probably here already waiting for me, so I better go," I said, quickly grabbing my books and bolting for the door. The bus was waiting at the corner of my street loading the last few kids. I sprinted down the sidewalk and made the bus just in time, never more thankful to get away from my father.

*

Josh and Emily were hanging out on the front steps of the school when I descended the steps of the bus. Emily immediately saw me and waved me over to them. I gave the best cheerful smile I could muster on such short notice and sat down beside Josh. 

"Hey," I greeted, brushing my hair in front of my face.

"Hey Rugrat. How goes it?" Josh asked, brushing his own hair out of his eyes.

"Not great."

"Sorry to hear that. What seems to be troubling you? It's not something a Butterfinger couldn't fix?" he asked, offering me a piece of his chocolate bar. I had to smile at how much he reminded me of Xander at times. 

"No thanks, Josh. Just not feeling so great." 

"Okay, if you're sure," he replied finishing the candy bar in two bites.

"You're such a pig." Emily chided. 

"Sorry, did you want some," he mumbled through his mouth crammed with chocolate.

Emily responded by rolling her eyes, and standing up. 

"Hey Dawn, what happened to your face?" Emily asked, taking notice for the first time.

"I got hit," I answered with a sigh.

"Jesus. Who hit you?" Josh asked, as he noticed the bruise, as well.

"It's a long story. I was mugged, but I'm fine," I answered, standing. Thankfully, the warning bell rang a second later. "I gotta go. See you guys at lunch."

*

Tim caught up to me as soon as fourth period ended, right before the lunch period began.

"I heard what happened. I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. I'm so sorry," Tim babbled as he approached me.

"I'm fine. It wasn't your fault," I assured him, continuing in the direction of my locker. 

"It is my fault. Dawn, I told you to be careful! I'm sorry." 

"Listen to me. I AM FINE. Would everyone stop freaking out already? It's just a bruise, for Pete's sake!" I exclaimed, drawing attention from other students passing us in the halls.

"I'm sorry. I really am," Tim continued apologizing, ignoring the stares of our fellow students.

"I know," I replied more calmly this time.

"Can I carry your books or something?" Tim offered, taking the books away from me as I opened my locker.

"No," I answered taking the books back and shoving them inside my locker. I finished grabbing my things and walked down to lunch with Tim, while he mumbled apologies the entire way.

Throughout the lunch period, I was drilled for information about my attackers. Both Tim and Josh had offered to hunt them down and 'Kick their ass', but I declined knowing full well, the only thing they would be able to find was a demon corpse, or possibly the wrong person. I was unsure whether I should reveal Connor's involvement in the situation, and looked to him while I explained it, to see if he wanted to add anything.

Connor gave me a nervous, wide-eyed, look that I assumed was a silent plea for me to leave him out of the story, before he looked away from the table, seemingly uninterested. If he didn't want to bring it up himself, I supposed I wouldn't bother either. It would only be more complicated to explain, and I honestly didn't know why he had been there or how much he knew.

Eventually, I was able to steer the topic of conversation away from myself, and to the winter semi-formal, which I knew Emily would fly with. 

"It's next month you know," she reminded us, as if we could have forgotten. "And you all have to go." 

"Is that a command?" Josh questioned, it was obvious that, unlike Emily, he was not looking forward to it.

"Yes," she answered firmly. Josh backed down, turning his interest to his lunch.

"Can't," Connor stated, suddenly drawing everyone's attention to him.

"You have no choice." 

"I don't. It's too expensive," Connor answered simply.

"But…" Emily whined.

"I'm sorry." He ended the argument with those two simple words.

"Fine, you can all stay home and do whatever you want." Emily pouted. 

"Oh for Christ sake, I'll take you!" Josh shouted. He was obviously growing tired of this conversation.

"Thank you." Emily brightened immediately, and then leaned over to give Josh a kiss on the cheek.

Tim and Connor exchanged an amused glance, and rolled their eyes simultaneously. Josh noticed the exchange and raised his middle finger in response. I chuckled quietly to myself, but regretted it when my head began to throb again.

I held onto the side of my head, wincing in pain and wishing I had brought some extra Advil with me. I looked up to see Connor watching me carefully, while the others carried on their conversations not noticing my discomfort. I gave him a small smile, trying to reassure him, but I don't think the corners of my mouth made it up very far before I scowled, as the throbbing got progressively worse. I wanted to cry out in pain, but I knew I couldn't without drawing attention to myself. For once in my life, I really wanted to just fly under the radar. 

The bell rang signaling the end of lunch, and I gritted my teeth, trying to bare the pain while I made it through the rest of the day. Tim, Josh, and Emily, all waved their goodbyes, still unaware that I was in agony. The cafeteria cleared out before I sat back down, giving up my attempt to get my next class.

"I should have taken you to the hospital last night," I heard Connor say beside me. I hadn't realized he had stayed behind until I heard his voice and felt him brush the hair out of my face.

"I'm okay," I assured him, wincing at the sound of my own voice.

"You have trouble excepting help," he stated, as he examined the bruise on my face.

"No, I don't," I insisted, pulling away from him.

"I don't think you have a concussion, just a bad bruise. They must have hit you pretty hard," he commented.

"Who?" I mumbled paying him only half my attention.

"The... err… 'ugly man,' last night."

"Oh." I was under the impression he knew more than he was letting on, but I understood the need to keep secrets… For now, that is. 

I was fairly certain that Connor must have had some experience in the supernatural if he didn't completely freak out when he saw the demons, and I also understood there were few explanations as to why he would have been there at all. As a matter of fact, the only one I could think of was that he was following me, which was a bit disconcerting. 

"In any case, I'm sure you will feel better after some time passes. Stay still for a few minutes." Connor sounded more confident than I felt.

"You can go to class, if you want." I didn't really want to be left alone in the cafeteria, but I offered not wanting to hold him back.

"I know," he said simply. He made no move to leave, just stayed at my side.

"I don't trust you," I admitted, breaking the silence after what seemed like forever.

"You shouldn't." The statement wasn't threatening, rather more of a warning. For some reason the answer he gave didn't surprise me. It was almost comforting to know he was being honest, or as comforting as the admittance that he couldn't be trusted could be taken. Connor provided so many contradictions. My mind told me he was dangerous, yet I felt oddly safe in his presence. 

Reaching for his hand, I laced my fingers through his. I knew it was a bold move on my part, and I could see that he had not been expecting the gesture, but he didn't pull away. His skin was warm, and his hand just felt right in mine. For the first time in my life, I began to wonder what it was like to be in love. I realized this was completely insane because I didn't know anything about him, I couldn't even tell whether or not he hated me. But something about him just felt so _right_.

The silence helped the throbbing in my head fade, which gave me time to actually process thoughts. I finally had Connor right where I wanted him, and I had so many questions to ask him, but I didn't know where to begin, or what to ask. I knew he had questions for me as well, but I imagined he was probably having the same problem I was. Then again, he seemed the type to find out answers for himself, rather than just ask. There was something more to him, and I desperately wanted to find out what, but I didn't expect him to open up to me without my opening up to him, and I wasn't ready to do that just yet. 

"You kids should be in class." I looked up to see a janitor sweeping the remnants of lunches from underneath the tables.

Connor squeezed my hand and urged me to come with him. I held onto his hand until we reached the entrance to the cafeteria, when he untangled his fingers from mine, to hold the door open for me.

"I'll see you later." I didn't really want to go back to class or say good-bye, but it seemed to be what he wanted.

"Bye," he replied, watching me as I turned down the corridor in the direction of my next class. As soon as I felt his eyes leave me, I changed directions, heading for the girls' room. My headache felt worse the moment he let go of my hand. It had to be in my imagination, but it felt almost like he, specifically, made the pain go away. Not only was I becoming infatuated, I was going mad now too.

*

The rest of the school day couldn't have crept by more slowly. When school finally ended, I hurried outside, not wanting to miss the bus again. Just as I was about to step onto the bus, I saw Connor rushing down the school steps and down the sidewalk. In that moment, an insane idea occurred to me. 

Before I knew what I was doing I was stepping out of line and following him. I wasn't sure where he was going, but it seemed unfair that he would follow me and know where I live, but I could not follow him. And so, there I was, jogging down the street behind him, in hopes of discovering… something. I could only pray that he was in too much of a rush to look behind himself.

I was surprised to find that after a ten-minute sprint through LA, we ended up at a grocery store. I could only assume that he _really_ needed some milk or something. I followed him into the store, thankful he still hadn't noticed me. When he arrived he darted to a back room that was labeled, 'Employees Only'. So he worked there, that explained his hurry. I waited over to the side, watching the door he had entered. To see exactly what, I wasn't completely sure. 

Minutes began to pass by, and he still had yet to reemerge. Just I was about to give up, figuring he was doing work in back, I felt a hand fall on my arm. I whipped around to find him smiling smugly at me.

"You're not very good at stalking people," he remarked casually. I noticed he was now wearing a green smock, which he looked somewhat humorous in.

"I'm not stalking you," I denied pathetically. "I'm… I'm here to pick up some… bread." He just looked at me doubtfully for a moment.

"Isle two," he replied with a shrug.

"Huh?" 

"Bread," he reminded me. "It's in isle two."

"Oh, yeah, thanks." I stood for a moment longer. "So you work here?"

"Yes, when I'm not being distracted." 

"Oh, right. I better go then," I stated, taking his hint.

I started for the door, not bothering to pretend I was picking up bread. I figured it was quite obvious I wasn't there for bread by now, anyway. 

"Dawn?" I heard him call just as I was about to turn out of the isle. I turned to see what he wanted. "Take a right when you get onto the street. About three blocks down, take a left, stay on that street about a mile and you'll find your neighborhood."

I smiled to myself, taking his direction as a sign he cared. I took note of the information he gave me, also aware that I had not taken into consideration how I was to get home.

*

When I arrived home, I decided it would be best to call Buffy and fill her in on some of the goings on, here in LA. I knew she would know how to handle these demons that were plaguing the city streets, and would come rushing to my rescue as soon as she heard of my experience. She had always been so overprotective of me.

I curled up in the comfy over stuffed chair in the living room and grabbed the cordless phone, dialing the familiar numbers to the place I still considered my real home. Buffy answered the phone after a few rings.

"Hi, Buffy. It's Dawn." I couldn't hide the excitement in my voice of talking to her. I really missed having her around.

"Oh, hey Dawnie! What's up?" Buffy put on her fake cheerful voice. I knew it all too well.

"Well, I was calling to tell you about these demons that attacked me. Is everything okay though?" I asked, worrying about why she would have to put on a false front for me. 

"Yeah, everything's great just a little busy. Are you okay? You said something about a demon?" Buffy asked distractedly. In the background I could hear a muffled voice that sounded suspiciously similar to that of Spike's, followed by a quiet, masculine, groan.

"Uh, yeah," I paused wondering what was happening on the other end of the line, but shrugged it off to finish my account of the previous night's events. "These demons attacked me. They were big and blue and really ugly. One of them hit me really hard. My head still hurts."

"Oh. I'm sorry. Are you all right though?"

"Yeah, I killed them. But there might be more. I thought maybe you should come out here and check it out," I suggested.

"I can't. I have to stick around here and take out the demons on the Hellmouth. Besides, you killed them, good work." 

"But there are demons in LA, too! Don't you care about them? Think about all the people they could hurt."

"I'm sorry Dawnie. I'm tied up here in Sunnydale. There are other people to take care of the demons in LA. I'm only one person. Look, I'm sorry, but I have to get going. Bye," Buffy answered me, sounding exasperated. I hung the phone up, not bothering to grace her with a goodbye. 

I couldn't believe how heartless she was being. To think she didn't even care that there were innocent people out there being harmed by demons. One of those innocent people being me, her baby sister, yet she was too busy. I remained sitting in my chair fuming for a second before I came to a decision.

If she wouldn't try to defend the innocent people in LA, then I would.

*

AN 2: Hope you enjoyed it. This is the product of what I spent my Sunday working on _instead_ of my history paper. Who cares about Andrew Carnegie and Social Darwinism anyway? Ahh, well, it's only quarter past ten, maybe I can finish it after all. As Lilah would say, "No sleep for the wicked." Although I'm not very wicked… Wicked tired maybe. Well anyway. Please review! Please, please, please! 


	5. Part 5: Interlude

**Author**: ImmatureLittleGirl **Email**: immaturelittlegirl@yahoo.com

**Disclaimer**: The characters in this story belong to the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Joss Whedon and maybe other people, I'm not sure I just know that I don't own them...

**Summary**: Dawn goes to live with her father in LA and has to learn to live without her sister. Strange coincidences lead her to meet an interesting person. Dawn/Connor

**Rating**: PG-13 I guess.

**AN**: Sorry if I confused anyone, I fudged the timelines a little bit to make it work. It's somewhere in Season 6 of Buffy and Season 4 of Angel, I think. 

**AN** **2**: This is just a quick interlude to help answer some questions that have been asked. I hadn't originally planned on writing it, and I don't believe that anything mentioned in it is really dire to the development of the story, I've just been having trouble answering certain questions because the entire story is told from Dawn's perspective, and she can't see or know everything. I'm not sure if I'm going to leave this up, because I'm not sure if I like it. If you think its ok, let me know. If you think it sucks and I should exclude it from the story, well, let me know then too. 

**PART 5**:  _Interlude_

Gunn and Fred strolled in through the Hyperion's front entrance, grasping each other's hands, while jovially discussing the movie they had just returned from. Things had been so busy around Angel Investigations, that they hadn't had time to dedicate solely to each other, in quite some time. Gunn wrapped his arm around Fred's tiny waist and pulled her closer to him as they made their way over to the couches and collapsed on the sofa, curling up together closely. A moment later Angel joined them, sitting on the sofa across from where they were seated, his serious _expression bringing an end to their lighthearted conversation.

"What's up?" Gunn asked, drawing his eyes away from Fred's sweet smile, to Angel's unpleasant scowl.

"We've been flooded with work all day. We need to check out a demon infestation down on Terrance Ave, then swing around and pick up an incantation to vanquish the evil spirits haunting that club downtown," Angel explained. Pausing, Angel began to nervously fidget with his hands. "Did you see Connor?" Angel finally asked, looking up after a moment. 

"Yeah, he's been fine, man. There hasn't really been much out of the ordinary with him. Though, the 'new friend' of his, we've seen him with, was following him. I'm not really sure what's with the two of them. Last time we saw him, he was following her. Now she's following him. I'm not sensing a lot of trust in this new relationship he seems to be developing," Gunn replied; confusion etched on his face as he contemplated his findings. 

"I don't like this 'new friend' of his. Why would they be following each other? I want to see who this girl is that has been tailing my son around, and I want to know her motives. I swear, if Wolfram and Hart have anything to do with this, they will be truly sorry they messed with my offspring," Angel declared shaking his head to emphasize his threat. 

"I don't know, I think she seems like a nice girl. One of the reasons we enrolled him in school was so that he could begin to intermingle with society and make new friends. I think it's a good sign that he's making new acquaintances, even if they are exhibiting strange behavior, at first. 

"Not that I know her very well, or at all, but she appears to be sweet, and I think he might even like her. But it's just a guess. I mean, I don't know what his taste in girls is, but the way he looked at her today, after he confronted her, and the way she looked back… they seemed to be a little smitten with each other." Fred paused at the look of dread that crossed Angel's face. "Or possibly not," Fred added quickly, wishing she could retract her last statement.

"You think he might be falling for this girl? This is worse than I thought. If he trusts her, she could get anything out of him. Wolfram and Hart could lure him to their side, with her." Angel stood and began pacing almost frantically, as he considered this newest development. 

"Angel, I know it seems like it was practically yesterday he was just a baby, and that's mostly cause he was, but he's going to have to make his own mistakes and learn from them," Gunn advised, hoping Angel would listen to the voice of reason. The last thing Angel needed to do now, was drive an even bigger wedge in between he and his son by separating Connor from the new friends he had just recently made.

"Uh-oh. He's brooding again. What now?" Cordelia asked, watching Angel as she descended the stairs.

"He's worrying about Connor," Fred explained, leaving Gunn's side to follow Cordelia into the office area.

"He's always worrying about something, now isn't he?" Cordelia sat down on the desk and began to flip through the notes Fred had taken down earlier, on their latest case.

"So it seems." 

The phone beside Cordelia sounded a minute later, and she picked it up after the first ring.

"Angel Investigations. We help the hopeless," Cordelia chimed cheerily.

"Hi Cordelia, it's Buffy. Can I speak with Angel?"

"Ugh. What do you want? He's already in a broody mood. As if he needs more encouragement!" Cordelia snapped in annoyance. Angel knew who was on the other end of the line as soon as he heard Cordelia's remark and hurried to grab the phone away from her, before a war of words broke out between them.

"Buffy?" Angel greeted tightening his grip on the phone and turning away from Cordelia, who huffed in irritation. 

"Hi Angel," Buffy greeted with a note of relief in her voice.

"Is something wrong?" Angel asked, stepping away from Cordelia, who was leaning in close to him, in an attempt to eavesdrop on his conversation.

"No… well, possibly. Dawn called me yesterday to tell me she was attacked by two demons. She said she was able to kill them but she was worried there might be more, although it sounded to me like they were not real threats. Still, I feel guilty for not following up on it. I know she was disappointed, but I have been just so overwhelmed with a possible apocalypse, and other complications in my life. There is so much I have going on right now; I can't just drop everything to run out to LA. I was hoping that maybe you could keep an eye out on her, for a little while, as a favor to me," Buffy explained.

"Yeah, of course. Do you need any other help? Do you have this potential apocalypse under control?" Angel questioned with concern. 

"Yeah, I'm going to get everything here in Sunnydale under control, eventually. At least, I hope so. Thanks for looking out for Dawn, though. I really owe you one." 

"You don't have to worry about it. Everything here in LA is being taken care of," Angel insisted, trying to assure her.

"Thank you. I'll talk to you later. Update me if you find anything suspicious."

"Yeah, right away," Angel assured her. "Goodbye, Buffy."

"Bye," Buffy replied. After a short pause, Angel heard the click as the line died, and hung the phone up on its receiver.

"What did _she_ want?" Cordelia asked; her voice laced with contempt.

"Buffy needed a favor. She wants me to keep a watch on Dawn, because she thinks she might be in danger," Angel explained as he made his way into his office to grab his jacket, draped over the back of a chair.

"Is she paying?" Cordelia questioned, following closely behind Angel.

"No, I said it was a _favor_." Angel shrugged his jacket on, ignoring Cordelia, who was trying to form words to express her disapproval, but finding herself too frustrated to succeed. 

"We are too busy. You were just telling me how swamped we are with our cases, an hour ago," Cordelia reminded. 

"Yes, we are busy, but we can make time for this." Angel hurried back into the lobby, quickly rethinking his plans for the night. "Change of plans, Gunn. Can you and Fred take care of the demon infestation? Afterwards, see if you can find out what Connor's up to. Watch out for that girl and let me know if you see her again. Cordelia, you pick up the incantation. We'll vanquish the spirits tomorrow. I have some things I need to take care of tonight."

"You're just going to drop everything? Just like that? All for Buffy! This is insane. Whenever she asks for anything, you jump to her beck and call. This is so typical of you, Angel," Cordelia fumed.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," Angel replied sincerely. "That plan alright with you two?" Angel asked, now turning his attention to Gunn and Fred. Both nodded their agreement, without argument. 

"It's not alright with me! I can't believe you're going to just abandon your responsibilities like this," Cordelia shouted, stepping into Angel's path and preventing him from leaving.

"Right now, my main responsibility is to Buffy, to protect Dawn," Angel responded, stepping around Cordelia.

"You're putting your ex's younger sister before your own son's well being? Where are your priorities?" Cordelia followed directly behind Angel not willing to give up her fight just yet.

"Cordelia, be reasonable. You know Dawn and you also know Connor. Who is more capable of taking care of themselves when it comes to demons? I love Connor, and you know that, but if Dawn is in danger, she will have no way of protecting herself. Connor has strength and agility that would far surpass your average demon; Dawn is a teenage girl. I think it's clear where my help is needed more," Angel answered in an authoritative tone that ended the conversation. Angel pivoted and exited the Hyperion, leaving Cordelia alone to seethe in jealousy and anger over her defeat. 

* 

TBC

Let me know what you think. I really value your opinions. Thanks to all who reviewed, you're awesome.


	6. Part 6

**Author**: ImmatureLittleGirl **Email**: immaturelittlegirl@yahoo.com

**Disclaimer**: The characters in this story belong to the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Joss Whedon and maybe other people, I'm not sure I just know that I don't own them...

**Summary**: Dawn goes to live with her father in LA and has to learn to live without her sister. Strange coincidences lead her to meet an interesting person. Dawn/Connor

**Rating**: PG-13 I guess.

**AN**: Sorry if I confused anyone, I fudged the timelines a little bit to make it work. It's somewhere in Season 6 of Buffy and Season 4 of Angel, I think.

**AN2:** I'm really sorry it's taken so long to get this part out. I'm the worst procrastinator alive, on top of the fact that I have been really busy. I hope to have the next part out sooner. Thank you so much to everyone who sent feedback; you're the best! I hope this chapter is okay, please let me know what you think!****

**PART 6 **

Sprinting as fast as I could, I maneuvered through the rows of gravestones, trying to lose the train of vampires following close behind me. After about ten minutes of running with everything I had in me, I began to realize that the chase was becoming futile. I could barely breath and my legs felt like they were turning into rubber, yet it seemed like the vamp on my trail was just getting started. The only thing that could save me now would have to be heaven-sent. 

Just as I thought I was about to collapse, I felt the vampire's cold fingers swipe at my shirt, causing a fresh rush of adrenaline to flow through me. Using up the last of my energy, I tried to put as much distance possible between the bloodsucker, and me, before I resorted to my very last tactic. Taking one last deep breath, I spun around, stopping abruptly while tightly gripping the stake in front of me. The vampire continued barreling forward directly into me and the stake. To my own complete shock, my stake collided with the vampire's heart and exploded into dust. 

"One down, thr-… err… none to go?" I mumbled to myself in surprise. I took a moment to scan the graveyard, searching for the other fledgling vampires that had been on my tail only moments ago. Strangely enough, it seemed they were no longer in my immediate vicinity, which allowed me the perfect opportunity to run home as fast as possible and never-ever go looking for trouble again. That is, of course, until I got home and decided it wasn't _that_ bad, and I convinced myself I had the whole situation under control the entire time… I blame my stupidity on Buffy; it's her fault danger gives me such a rush. 

As I started cautiously making my way out of the cemetery, I began to wonder what had happened to those other vamps. It was possible they were hiding somewhere, waiting to ambush me again, but what reason would they have to use such a complicated strategy when, from what they could see, I was just a sitting duck? An innocent young girl with no way to defend myself, they could have all continued chasing me and killed me without much difficulty. It seemed more likely that they had gotten bored chasing me and taken off after someone easier to catch, than they were off wasting precious thought, plotting my demise. I was still sure to keep my eyes open for any possible attacks, while walking home.

The realization of how lucky I had been for the past few days finally hit me. This was the third time I had been out on patrol since my discussion with Buffy, and all three times I had miraculously overcome the strong odds against my succession. Surprisingly, it seemed that every time I was outnumbered, the rest of the vampires would disperse while I was preoccupied with the first vampire. On three patrols, I had killed just four vampires, but had been attacked by about ten. At this point, I was just hoping that I would make it home before my luck ran out.

***

I crept quietly down the empty corridor as my heart began to beat out of my chest. It wasn't as if I had never broken any rules before, it's just that I hadn't done so here, yet. I had my nice clean slate spread out in front of me, and here I was skipping class, after only a few weeks at Hemery. It wasn't as though I could actually use the excuse that it was for the good of mankind. I have found a new sympathy for Buffy, I'm sure she used that excuse more than a few times in high school. And there I was, following in my sister's footsteps; or at least, trying to, but kicking demon ass is a bit more difficult than she made it look. This brings me to why I'm skipping out on algebra, so that I can research demons and fighting techniques in the library.

Slipping into the large library, I could see many people milling around. The library appeared to be teaming with people, to my delighted surprise, which I hoped would ensure that I would go unnoticed. Deciding to get right down to business, I began my search for knowledge of the demonic sort immediately, using an unused computer to find the mythology section. From there, I found the isle with mythology and ran my finger along the spines of the books, looking for a title having to do with demonology. My finger came to an abrupt stop as it traced the spine of a book entitled _'The Encyclopedia of Demons'_. I smiled as I pulled the book from the shelf and began scanning the index, looking for vampires first. Flipping to the pages it specified, I began to read about the history of vampires and the different ways to kill them, most of which I already knew through Buffy. I smirked as I scanned over the 'legendary' vampire slayer. I turned the page to see a large gruesome drawing of a vampire, just as a large hand rested on my upper arm. I jumped and slammed the book shut, spinning around to find Connor looking at me quizzically. 

"Hi," I greeted in a nervous high-pitched squeak, as I quickly moved the book behind my back. 

"Hello," Connor replied eyeing me strangely.

"What are you doing here?" I asked backing away slightly. I exhaled, after noticing I was holding my breath. 

"Study hall," he answered simply, still looking at me as if I were the strangest person he had ever met; which there was a good chance I was, but that wasn't the point. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"I, uh, yeah… I-I was just, uh… reading," I stuttered, trying to come up with an excuse.

"Reading what?" he asked, giving me a doubtful look. 

"Uh, history! Yeah, history stuff. I'm big on the history!" I exclaimed a little too loudly, my eyes widening as I tried to emphasize my enjoyment of history. "I love history," my voice faded off as I realized the last statement was overkill. He continued looking at me strangely before glancing over to the bookshelf and reading some of the titles on the books.

"In the mythology section?" Connor asked, turning his attention back toward me. His eyes narrowed suspiciously, and I had to resist the urge to let out a nervous squeaking noise, as he stared at me.

"Uh, yeah. Mythology, history, same thing, right?" I responded quickly, hoping he would go for that.

He remained silent, looking at the bookshelf and continuing to read the titles of the books, before looking back to me suspiciously. He looked as though he was about to ask another question and I was suddenly overcome with an immediate panic. Thinking quickly, I tried to come up with an idea to distract him. Grabbing both of his shoulders I stood up on my tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth. I pulled back quickly to see his surprised _expression. He stood still staring at me with wide eyes. I might have panicked at this point if I hadn't already been half near hysterical to begin with. 

"That was for helping me the other day. Ya know, uh, thanks," I explained quickly feeling the blush creep up my cheeks. He continued staring at me in silent shock. And I thought he had been looking at me strangely before…

"Sorry, I mean, thanks, I mean I have to go now," I replied quickly, then leaned up again to press another kiss to his mouth for good measure, and because I couldn't help myself; his stunned _expression was just too irresistibly cute. I was surprised when he cupped my cheek with his hand and kissed me back slightly, but I pulled away quickly and darted down the isle, tossing the book on an empty table and hurrying out of the library. As I got to the empty hall, I realized I now had nowhere to go. 

Finding an empty bathroom, I hid inside where I intended to spend the rest of the period. Looking at myself in the mirror, my eyes widened as I realized that I just kissed Connor! Twice! 

***

Having been in the bathroom close to twenty minutes I was still replaying the events in the library over again in my head as I sat on the counter, my feet dangling a few inches above the floor. I heard the bathroom door open, but didn't pay it much attention; people had been coming and going the entire time I had been in there, no one bothering to give me a second look.

"Hey Dawn," I heard a familiar voice greet. I looked up to see Emily smile cheerfully back at me.

"Hey," I replied with less enthusiasm.

"What's with the pensive?" Emily asked as she approached the mirror and began applying a thick coat of eyeliner. 

"I kissed Connor," I whispered quietly, as if I were afraid he would actually hear me.

"You what?" Emily screeched; a huge smiled plastered across her face as she hurried closer to me. "When? How? Why? Details!"

"I don't know," I answered, burying my head in my hands.

"Aww, Dawn! You have to tell me more than that. It couldn't have been that bad, I mean, it wasn't, was it?" Emily inquired, looking at me expectantly.

"No, it wasn't bad. It was… good. Except for the whole complete randomness of it and the fact that he is probably currently thinking I'm completely psycho!" I answered, my voice laced with despair.

"Oh. I'm sure it's not so bad. I mean he likes you; that's obvious. Did he kiss you back?" Emily tried to reason with me.

"The second time…"

"The second time?!? How many times didja kiss him?" Emily asked in surprise.

"Twice," I squeaked, biting my lower lip.

"I see. Well if he kissed you back, then he's equally guilty! So you're both psycho!" Emily rationalized, with a smile and a shrug.

"Oh good." I remarked sarcastically, leaning back against the mirror, and closing my eyes.

"If it helps at all, I'm sure you'll have way more embarrassing things happen in the future and this will seem like nothing!" Emily climbed up onto the counter beside me, putting her arm around me in friendly support.

"Can't wait… My God! As if he didn't already think I was completely insane," I exclaimed as the memory came back to me again.

"Why did he think you were insane before?" Emily questioned looking at me seriously.

"Probably because I am," I answered with a shrug.

"Well, he's really not one to go accusing other people of insanity. You've met the boy haven't you? I mean, I agree he is definitely one of the more attractive males of the human race, but still… He's a little off, you must admit," Emily replied, smirking.

"I guess. Oh God, we have lunch next! What am I going to say?" I gasped.

"Ooh, I can't wait!" Emily remarked smiling wickedly.

"Emily! You're not helping!"

"Sorry, Hun. I'm sure you'll be fine. I have to get back to class, though. See ya in a few!" Emily hopped down off the counter and started toward the door.

"Bye," I muttered as I watched her go. My head fell backwards and smacked the mirror again. What was I supposed to do now?

***

As I entered the cafeteria, my head began to flood with possible scenarios of how lunch would go once I sat at the table. How would Connor act towards me? Would he have told Tim and Josh about the incident in the library, just as I told Emily? I could just imagine what fun Josh could make of the situation. As much as I hoped to not become the butt of Josh's jokes for the next few days, I was honestly more nervous as to how Connor would behave towards me. Just as I thought he was beginning to warm up to me, I go and make a ridiculous move on him. From what I knew of him, it wasn't his style to treat people cruelly, but he did not seem to have a problem shutting people out. In fact, he did so rather swiftly, whenever he seemed to feel uncomfortable, and earlier having seriously overstepped my bounds, was probably reason enough to shut me out. I'm sure he was now thoroughly convinced that I was a complete freak; then again, he wasn't all that wrong, was he?

I walked slowly down the center isle in the cafeteria, trying to force myself to calm down before sitting down to lunch. Connor and Tim were already seated at our table but Emily and Josh didn't seem to be anywhere in sight. I hesitated for a moment before sitting at the table, hoping Emily would arrive soon to lend silent support. 

The moment I approached the table, the conversation between Connor and Tim came to a seemingly abrupt halt, leading me to worriedly believe that they were speaking about me. If Tim knew anything, he didn't let on to it, and instead smiled pleasantly as I sat beside him, across from Connor.

"Hey Dawn. What's up?" Tim greeted, still smiling.

"Uh… Nothing," I denied pathetically. I dared to steal a quick glance at Connor, who remained stoic and undisturbed by my presence, to my immense relief.

"Good. Hey did you guys hear about the affair between Mr. Whitman and Miss Douglas? I guess they were caught screwing in the teachers lounge, by Principal Huntley!" Tim filled us in on the latest gossip enthusiastically.

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear, Tim," Emily remarked as she sat down at the table along with Josh. "Don't you think that would be grounds for being fired, if it were true?"

"I suppose, but some of the gossip you hear around school is more believable than other stuff. For example, the rumor that a vicious werewolf mauled Chad Winston, is less believable than, oh say, the rumor that you and Josh were engaged in a rather heated make-out session in the chem. Lab after school, yesterday," Tim responded, smiling gleefully at the guilty looks that crossed both Emily and Josh's faces. Josh looked up from the sandwich he was just about to bite into before looking between Connor and me. I sucked in my breath, knowing about what his next comment would be.

"Guess we're not the only ones, at least," Josh muttered under his breath before continuing to take a bite out of his sandwich, which he choked on as Emily's elbow connected with his gut. For a moment, I seriously considered killing Emily for telling Josh, but I supposed I couldn't really blame her. I chanced a look in Connor's direction, and saw him staring at me intently, an eyebrow raised questioningly.

"Did I miss something?" Tim asked suspiciously.

"Nope," Emily said quickly, giving Tim a thin fake smile.

"Anyway, I hear Mr. Whitman's wife kicked him out last night, and that's why he's wearing the same clothes he was yesterday," Tim continued on obliviously, living up to his title as the 'gossip whore'.

***

Strolling heedlessly through the cemetery, I twirled the stake in my hands, as I went over the day's events in my head. After lunch, Connor had not made any move to speak to me, but that had not been completely abnormal, considering he rarely spoke unless he actually had something to say. Although, one would think, after the incident in the library, he would have something to say, but then again, I hadn't tried to speak to him either. The whole situation was such confusion. I couldn't even figure out what I had been thinking when I kissed him in the first place. Some sort of primal instinct had completely taken over.

I was startled by the sudden abrupt yank of my hair and my loss of balance as I found myself hurdling into a near by gravestone. My head struck the cold rock with a loud smack, and I let out a wounded yelp as I felt the pain shoot through my skull. I was disoriented for a moment, before I saw the stupid looking vampire come at me, seizing me by the throat and lifting me up to his eye level. I could feel that he was stronger than most of the fledglings I had been taking on earlier in the week, and could tell he had been around some time, judging from his feathered haircut and wide bell-bottoms. His resemblance to Kelso from 'That 70's Show' would have been comical under different circumstances. 

In a panic, I kicked out at him, my heal connecting with his gut, causing him to fall backwards. He stood up again undaunted, grabbing me by my upper arm and pulling me closer to him as he wrenched the stake from my grip and threw it aside. I pounded on his chest, trying to loosen his grip but he simply smiled down at me with his goofy grin.

"Your blood, it smells so… yummy," he commented, revealing his extensive vocabulary.

He leaned down and licked my face causing me to visibly cringe. Thinking hard, I tried to come up with any idea to get him off of me, but nothing came to me. Buffy was right, my own carelessness was going to be the death of me. I scrunched my eyes shut, preparing for him to bite into me, when I suddenly heard an agonizing screech and felt his hold on me dissolve. It felt as though Kelso-vamp had just spontaneously combusted, but I knew that that scenario was just completely impossible, and so I continued to squeeze my eyes tightly shut.

"You want to tell me what you're doing out here in the middle of the night?" I heard a deep familiar voice question.

I opened my eyes to see that not only was Kelso-vamp gone, but Angel, my sister's undead ex-boyfriend, was also standing in front of me, an annoyed _expression covering his face.

"Angel?" I asked in confusion. 

"You've been wandering through the grave yards at night all week long. I'd think growing up with Buffy, you'd have learned it's not safe out here at night," Angel stated, crossing his arms over his chest. I couldn't help wondering when he had gotten that 'disappointed parent' look down. I supposed it was just something all adults were capable of, when given the justification to use it.

"Hey! You're the reason that all those vamps have been mysteriously disappearing all week! You've been following me!" I gasped as the realization hit me.

"You wouldn't have made it through the first night without me watching out for you. And what do you think you've been doing? You are not properly trained or equipped for patrolling," Angel chastised. It was strange how adults always tried to warp the situation into being your fault.

"I was just trying to protect the innocent people of LA. I think we are still overlooking a very important fact here! You've been stalking me. Last time you were all crazy-stalker-guy, you were seriously lacking in the soul department. You're not Angelus again are you?" I questioned suspiciously, lamenting the fact that he was now holding the only stake I had brought with me.

"First of all, most of the people that hang around in this section of LA are hardly innocent. And to answer your question, I still have my soul. I highly doubt without it I would have bothered to follow you around all week, in order to keep you from the danger you continuously place yourself in," Angel replied harshly, his voice still laced with irritation.

"It's good to see that you still have sight of the mission to protect people, too," I spat back sarcastically. "You don't have to follow me around. I can take care of myself, but I am not going to sit back without trying to help."

"Fine. If you're going to do this, I'll walk around with you. Maybe I can at least show you some defense techniques. I promised Buffy I would keep an eye on you, anyway," Angel admitted.

"Buffy asked you to watch out for me," I asked angrily. I hid the fact that I was slightly happy to hear that she still cared enough about me to ask Angel for help. 

"She just wanted me to make sure you weren't doing anything stupid, like hanging around in cemeteries at night, looking for trouble, since she's been so busy with the end of the world and related things, to do so herself," Angel replied, falling into step beside me as I began to stalk off in a different direction.

"I don't need a babysitter," I snapped, bitterly.

"I'm not your… Oh for God's sake, why do I bother? Tell me something, what is it with teenagers? Do you just hate everyone?" Angel asked, his irritable disposition shifting to one of confusion.

"Just you," I answered flippantly, swiveling around to look him in the eye.

"Great," he responded, rolling his eyes.

*******

**TBC**…


	7. Part 7

**Author**: ImmatureLittleGirl **Email**: immaturelittlegirl@yahoo.com

**Disclaimer**: The characters in this story belong to the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Joss Whedon and maybe other people, I'm not sure I just know that I don't own them...

**Summary**: Dawn goes to live with her father in LA and has to learn to live without her sister. Strange coincidences lead her to meet an interesting person. Dawn/Connor

**Rating**: PG-13 I guess.

**AN**: Thank you to everyone who sent feedback. J Sorry if I confused anyone, I fudged the timelines a little bit to make it work. It's somewhere in Season 6 of Buffy and Season 4 of Angel, I think.

**PART 7**

The next day at school, I marched slowly down the busy hallway, in the direction of Connor's locker. After having spent the entire night tossing and turning as I worried about my relationship with Connor, I decided that it would be best for me to just talk to him about the kiss. I needed to know what his thoughts were on the subject, but unfortunately, he wasn't really 'Joe Here's-what-I'm-thinking'. I wasn't feeling terribly confident about the upcoming confrontation, but I hoped in the end, it would ease the awkwardness between us. If it didn't add to it, that is.

I stopped dead in my tracks as soon as I saw him, standing in front of his locker as he spun the combination on the lock. His shaggy brown hair fell in front of his face and he pushed it out of his eyes in irritation, only to have it fall back in place a second later. He looked so hot sometimes; it was hard to think straight just being near him. I couldn't help but think about that one amazingly good kiss I shared with him, which only reminded me that now he most likely thought I was a pathetic loser. For an instant, I contemplated turning and running in the other direction. Maybe if we both pretended it didn't happen, then eventually we would both forget. Yeah, forget kissing Connor, _right_…

As the door to his locker swung open, he tossed some books inside and then glanced down the hallway. His eyes connected with mine and I realized that there was no turning back now. A small whimper escaped my lips as I realized that this was the moment of truth. I tried to remain calm as I prepared myself for rejection. He watched me intently as I made my way over to him slowly. For a moment, I stood in front of him, unsure where to begin. I had been practicing what to say all morning, but suddenly everything I had planned on saying sounded lame and pathetic.

"Hi." I started off with the classic casual greeting. Where to go from there, was the problem.

"Hey," was his simple response. He looked back to his locker and removed two books, tucking them under his arm before returning his attention to me.

"About yesterday…" I began, but drifted off unsure what else could be said. He said nothing, only watched me carefully, his face revealing no emotion. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm really not sure why I did that, but I'm sorry if I, like, offended you, or something." There it was, out in the open. He was silent for a moment and I imagined he was carefully planning how to reject me, using the least amount of words possible.

"You did not, 'like, offend me, or something', yesterday. You have yet to offend me, don't apologize," he responded easily. A small, slightly mocking, smile crossed his lips momentarily, but it faded quickly.

"Ok. So, we're cool then?" I asked hopefully. The corner of his mouth twitched as if he was going to smile again, but instead he looked down the hallway, before looking back to me.

"We are," he stated calmly. 

"Ok, good." I stood in front of him a moment longer, wondering if I should leave now. 

"I have class," he remarked, still watching me carefully.

"Yeah, me too." Neither of us made a move to leave our spots. I found myself staring into his eyes, lost in his intense gaze. I wasn't sure how long I stood there just staring into his eyes. The bell suddenly sounded to signal we should head to our class, and I was shaken from my daze. "I-I better go," I said before turning in the direction of my classroom. I made it only about four steps before I was abruptly yanked over to the side.

"What the hell was that all about?" Emily asked, staring at me expectantly.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about whatever it was that you and Connor were doing just a minute ago! You didn't kiss again, did you?" Emily questioned, a small, excited smile began to spread across her face.

"No! We were just talking. That's all," I explained, simply. Emily gave me a disbelieving look.

"He was giving you that look. He wants you, just as much as you want him. What are you waiting for to tell him?" Emily asked exasperatedly. 

"He wasn't giving me any 'looks', and who says that I 'want' him anyway? Maybe I'm over the whole Connor thing!" I looked down as I fixed my skirt, unable to look her in the eye as I lied through my teeth about being over Connor.

"Yeah _maybe_," Emily agreed sarcastically. She shook her head in disbelief, causing her pigtails to wag back and forth. "And he wasn't giving you looks? Please! You guys were doing that whole, corny, staring into each other's eyes thing for, like, a whole minute, without saying anything. He was most definitely giving you looks!"

"Honestly, I really wish he were interested, but he's not. I know you want to fix us up, or something, but it's just not going to work. Let's just try and forget about the whole thing, okay?" I insisted, aware of the audible disappointment in my voice.

"I guess, if that's what you want," Emily responded, giving in reluctantly. 

"It is." 

"I'll talk to you later then," Emily remarked, giving me a sympathetic look.

"Yeah, later." After giving Emily a small wave, I turned down the hall toward my class. I couldn't help but wonder, as I made my way through the maze of corridors, if just maybe, there was a little bit of truth to what Emily was saying, but I supposed it wasn't really worth it to get my hopes up.

***

I spent the rest of the morning watching the clock tick by, second by second, anticipating the end of classes. Fridays always seemed to last the longest. I couldn't wait to get out of school; I was beginning to feel suffocated in the stuffy classrooms. I desperately needed some fresh air, but there was still at least a few hours left to the school day. It wasn't as though I was actually learning anything anyway. A certain tall, dark, and handsome man occupied most of my thoughts, leaving minimal attention actually dedicated to my studies for the rest of the morning. I was extremely thankful when the bell for lunch break rang; a few minutes more of Mr. Swanson's lecture, and I might have passed out from the boredom.

I made a quick stop at my locker, before hurrying down to the lunchroom, but was surprised when an arm wrapping around my shoulders began leading me away from the cafeteria. I looked up to see Josh directing me towards the rest of our group near the back entrance to the school.

"Where are we going?" I asked looking up at Josh who was grinning excitedly.

"We were all in history last period, and couldn't help but notice how boring the rest of our school day sounded, so we decided to skip it. We're going to lunch at a lovely diner down the street, where the food is actually, get this, _edible_!" Josh explained with exaggerated enthusiasm.

"You're coming with, right?" Emily asked, also smiling excitedly.

"I don't know," I answered, a little unsure. I'd already skipped a class earlier that week; I hadn't intended to make it a habit. I glanced around the group uneasily. Josh and Emily were looking at me expectantly, while Tim and Connor both appeared bored and indifferent. They all seemed anxious to get out of school, before we were caught, judging from the way each of them continually glanced from the cafeteria doors down the hall and back to the doors to freedom only a few feet away.

"Oh come on, Rugrat, its just a few stupid classes. Do you really want to spend the rest of your day, cooped up in a boring classroom, listening to lectures about things you don't even need to know about, anyway? Besides, all the kids are doing it! Give in to the peer pressure!" Josh coaxed, sarcastically. Emily rolled her eyes, and slapped him on the arm.

"You don't have to come along if you don't want to miss classes, but if you do, you know you're welcome to come with us," Emily offered, giving me a supportive smile. I remained quiet for a short moment while I weighed my choices.

"Okay, I'm in! Let's go!" I decided. I glanced at Connor who smirked at me, and I suddenly felt a bit self-conscious.

"That's our girl! Now, let's get the hell out of here," Tim suggested seriously. He made a beeline for the back door, and we all followed after him.

Sneaking off campus was not terribly difficult; we just simply walked off the property, away from the school. I could see a few other kids hanging around outside on the grounds and in the parking lot, as well. I guessed Friday was a popular day for skipping classes.

As we walked down the sidewalk to the diner, Tim and Josh entertained us with a humorous story about one of their teacher's flatulence problem, earlier that day. I soon tuned them out though, after I noticed Connor was walking along side me. His arm brushed up against mine slightly, and I was forced to bite my lip to keep from grinning like an idiot. He continued to walk close beside me until we arrived at the diner. 

The diner was mostly empty, aside from a couple of businessmen in one corner and a few more casually dressed men seated at the counter. We walked further into the diner and chose a booth beside a window. I slid in beside Connor, across from Josh and Emily, while Tim pulled a chair up to the end of the table.

"Welcome to Red's Diner. We typically skip out on classes, about once a month, to eat lunch here. It's kind of a tradition," Tim explained, leaning back in his chair.

"Cool." I looked around the diner taking in my surroundings. Living in Sunnydale, I learned to take note of all possible exits. I glanced back and forth between the two visible exits in the front and back of the diner. Sitting back in my seat correctly, I noticed Connor staring at me strangely. Wasn't it normal to take note of all routes of escape? I gave him my best innocent look and smiled sweetly, hoping he would let down his suspicions. 

"Afternoon, kids. What can I get for you guys today?" a heavyset woman, in a green waitress outfit, asked, as she approached the table.

"Hmm, Rose, I'm not sure I know what I want today. Could you read me the menu, again?" Josh asked sweetly. 

"Ok, that'll be a cheeseburger for Josh," the woman responded, rolling her eyes. "And the rest of you?"

"We'll all take our norms, thank you, Rose," Emily answered for the group.

"Ok, got it. And what about you, Hun?" Rose questioned, looking at me expectantly. I bit my lip as I tried to remember how much money I had with me.

"I guess I'll have a grilled cheese sandwich and a water, please," I responded quietly, silently hoping that it wouldn't be too expensive.

"Aren't you just the sweetest little thing? What are you doing hanging around with these hooligans?" Rose joked. The rest of the group laughed at her remark, while I simply shrugged, unsure what to say. "What's your name?"

"Dawn," I stated, politely.

"Dawn? Well, Dawn, don't you let them get you into any trouble," Rose replied, patting me on the shoulder before turning back towards the kitchen.

"She seemed… nice," I remarked, once Rose was out of earshot. 

"Yeah. She puts up with our, in general, weirdness, so she's cool," Emily replied absently.

"Oh. How come she wouldn't tell you what was on the menu?" I asked remembering the exchange she had had with Josh.

"Josh was just being stupid. Every time we come in here, he has her read him the menu but he always orders a cheeseburger. She won't do it anymore though 'cause she figured out that he was just being an immature jerk," Emily answered.

"But a lovable immature jerk," Josh declared, wrapping his arm around Emily's shoulders and pulling her closer.

"What is up with you two and the grabby-ness? Are ya back together again, or what?" Tim asked, sounding a bit exasperated.

"Something like that," Josh stated, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.

"So we're talking a 'friends with benefits' type of deal?" Tim inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"_We _are not talking about this because we are not having this conversation!" Emily exclaimed, glaring at Tim, who immediately backed down. 

"So Connor, what was with that meeting with guidance you had this morning?" Josh asked after a moment of uncomfortable silence passed over the table.

"I have an attitude problem, due to my unstable environment and lack of parental figures, according to Mrs. Barchelli," Connor mimicked, as a scowl crossed his face. 

"So what's she gonna do about that?" Emily asked, seeming to be concerned.

"Nothing," Connor answered simply.

"He's eighteen. There's nothing she _can_ do." Tim filled in the rest. Connor nodded his agreement, absently playing with the napkin dispenser. I looked over at him with surprise. I had assumed he was younger because he was only a junior, although, upon inspection, I did notice that he appeared older, more mature, and a great deal sexier, than most of the boys his age; especially in the tight black t-shirt he was wearing and those ripped jeans that hung loosely on his hips. Then again, he would be gorgeous in anything… or nothing. I forced myself to suppress a grin at that thought. Not that I had a crush on him or anything!

"It won't stop them from calling your dad," Josh commented, slouching down in his seat. Connor shrugged, exhibiting his indifference.

A moment later Rose returned with our drinks, and the table fell into silence.

"Why so silent? Are we discussing something illegal?" Rose questioned half jokingly, as she placed the drinks on the table in front of us.

"Yep, you got our number, Rose!" Josh confirmed, grinning.

"Always up to trouble, you kids are. Tim stop tilting back in your chair, you're going to fall and crack your head open," Rose chastised. 

"Sorry, Mom," Tim answered sarcastically, and dropped his chair flat on the floor with a loud smack.

"Your order will be up in a minute or so, kids." Rose smiled kindly once more, before leaving our table, to hand the businessmen in the corner their bill. As soon as Rose was merely a few feet away, Tim leaned back in his chair once more.

"I thought you said you didn't have parents?" I asked carefully, watching Connor's reaction and hoping he didn't feel I was prying into his business.

"I don't," Connor stated firmly, not looking me in the eye. I exchanged a look with Emily, who looked uneasy. I was confused by his response, but decided judging from his current mood, it was not an issue worth forcing.

"So…" Josh began but his voice faded off awkwardly. Our group merged into a complete silence for a moment, before a loud bang and a yelp drew everyone's attention to Tim, who was now sprawled on the floor. Josh broke out into hysterical laughter immediately, while the rest of us stood up to make sure Tim was all right, before breaking into our own fits of laughter.

"Didn't I warn you?" Rose asked, as she watched Tim fix his seat and sit back down, before she placed our plates of food down in front of each of us. Tim's cheeks reddened in embarrassment, but he chose not respond. "Enjoy!" With that, Rose left us to ourselves, once again.

We sat quietly for a moment as we began picking at our lunches. Josh immediately picking his favorite things off of other people's plates and licking them before they had the chance to eat them.

"Hey!" Emily exclaimed, as she watched Josh run his tongue along the pickle he had just taken off of her plate.

"What? Oh, you didn't want this, did you?" Josh asked innocently, ending his statement by licking the pickle again.

"Do you really think that a little of your spit is going to disgust me? Please! It wouldn't be the first time I'd ingested your saliva," Emily commented, giving Josh an annoyed glare.

Josh smiled proudly, wrapping an arm around Emily and pulling her closer to him. "So you like my saliva?" He leaned down to whisper in her ear, loud enough so that the rest of us could hear him as well. Leaning in even closer, he licked her neck. I began to feel a little uncomfortable. Glancing between Connor and Tim, I noticed they appeared to be a bit uncomfortable with the situation as well, but neither seemed terribly surprised by the behavior.

"Eww! Stop that. Keep your spit to yourself!" Emily shouted, pushing Josh off of her. 

"Yeah, please do!" Tim quickly supported Emily's request, eyeing the french-fries Josh had stolen from his plate just a few minutes ago.

Josh shrugged off the comments easily and began to wolf down the rest of his meal. Tim and Connor both picked at their lunches while listening to Emily go on about a concert that was coming up, her own lunch completely forgotten. Although my own lunch appeared to be more appetizing than that which would have been served by the school, my stomach was doing flip flops, most likely due to the combined stress from my argument with Buffy, missing classes, my self-imposed mini-slayer duties, and the fact that at the time I was sitting next to possibly the most attractive man I had ever met. I decided maybe food would not be such a good idea, for the moment.

I tuned back into the conversation that was now being lead by Tim, hoping to momentarily forget the stress I was under and relax. Looking around I noticed everyone else had mostly finished their lunches. 

"You need a sport, that would get them off your case. If you're involved in a sport, you look well rounded. Besides you're strong and athletic, you'd be good at sports," Tim directed his suggestion at Connor.

"No time," Connor answered flatly, seeming uninterested in the conversation, instead he seemed to be concentrating on the bench we were sitting on where his hand was resting between us. I hadn't noticed how close we had been before, and silently wondered if I had subconsciously moved closer to him.

"Come on, you could cut back your hours or something couldn't you?" Josh advised, bringing Connor's attention back to the conversation.

"I wouldn't make rent," Connor stated, not buying into their ideas.

"Well, if you really needed money, couldn't you ask…" Emily began, but was abruptly cut off.

"No!" Connor said firmly, fixing Emily with a glare. The hand that had been resting calmly beside me, suddenly balled into a fist. Without thinking I reached for his hand, rubbing my thumb against the back of it in an attempt to comfort him. He immediately glanced back down at his hand, which relaxed after a moment. "Sorry," Connor apologized for snapping after a few silent seconds crept by.

"I was just suggesting," Emily attempted to explain.

"I know. Forget it, I'll be fine," Connor insisted.

"I bet Courtney would be impressed if you were on the basketball team," Josh remarked, grinning widely and nodding his head in encouragement. My hand immediately stilled, as I listened for what they were talking about.

"Who?" Emily asked, also perking up to the conversation.

"Ya know, Courtney, the blonde cheerleader. She's a senior. Wouldn't have really thought Connor here, for the type into older woman, but I saw you guys talking earlier today. Actually, it wasn't really talking, more like her taking her shirt off for you," Josh informed the group, still wearing his stupid grin. I yanked my hand away from Connor's abruptly, earning a curious look from Connor.

"She was showing me her new tattoo," Connor defended innocently. I could feel his eyes on me, but I refused to look in his direction, for fear of further giving away anymore of my feelings. I instead picked at the food on my plate, although, I really had little interest in eating at that moment.

"Uh-huh," Tim replied, unimpressed. "Look she might have been saying, 'Wanna see my new tattoo?' aloud, but what she was really trying to say was 'Look at my hot body. I want to get into your pants," Tim informed Connor matter-of-factly.

"Hardly. She's an… airhead?" Connor asked looking to Emily to see if he had used the correct word, which, under different circumstances, would have been completely adorable. Emily nodded, smiling slightly.

"She's gorgeous, and taking into consideration her reputation, she probably wants to screw your brains out! Who cares if she's intelligent?" Josh questioned emphatically, receiving him an elbow to his ribcage from Emily. "Ouch!"

"I do," Connor responded quietly. 

"Hey, man, whatever you're into. Everyone has their standards," Tim replied giving Connor a supportive smile. "Well, almost everyone," Tim corrected, giving Josh a pointed look.

"You're one to talk!" Josh scoffed. I noticed Connor relax a bit once the attention was away from him, he didn't seem to ever like being the center of attention. Josh and Tim continued to argue half heartedly, until Josh ended the discussion by standing up dramatically, and sarcastically shouting, "You wanna take this outside?" We all laughed at that, which helped to ease the tension that had been building. 

"Oh, no you don't. There will be no fighting in my diner!" Rose said, glaring at Josh with authority.

"Sorry," he mumbled in response before dropping back down in his seat. Rose smiled sweetly at the rest of us and slipped the bill onto the table.

"Since it was your first time at Red's, you were on the house, Sweetie," Rose informed me. "Hope to see you back here soon; maybe next time, after school hours." I smiled meekly in response. She chuckled before saying good-bye and heading off to attend to the rest of the customers.

"So where to next?" Tim asked, standing after placing his money on the table.

"Movies?" Emily suggested, glancing at her watch and waiting as Josh climbed out of the booth so that she could, as well. 

I followed the group out of the small diner and back out onto the sidewalk, before glancing at my own watch as well. "I have to get back to the school," I stated, realizing how late it was getting; I still needed to grab my books and catch my bus.

"Back to the school? But we just escaped!" Josh shouted, looking disappointed.

"I can find my way back myself," I sounded a bit more confidant than I actually was, but in broad daylight, how lost could I get? "You guys go to the movies and have fun."

"I'll go with you," Connor offered, stepping a little closer to me. 

"Ok, we'll see you guys later than," Emily replied quickly, a beaming smile on her face. She grabbed the boys' sleeves and began dragging them in the opposite direction.

"Uh, thanks," I mumbled, feeling a bit uncertain.

"I need to get my sweatshirt," Connor explained, falling into step beside me, as we began our walk back toward the school. I couldn't help from feeling a little disappointed that he just wanted to get his sweatshirt from school, rather than walk with me for the sake of spending time with me. Then again, why would he want to just spend time with me, when older, prettier girls, like Courtney, were vying for his attention?

We walked along the sidewalk in silence for a while, and he seemed to be deep in thought. I tried to keep myself from looking at him, but I couldn't help myself from stealing a few glances in his direction. He strode along the path beside me, staring down at the ground. An eerily familiar frown spread over his face, as he brooded over some unknown subject. Even unhappy, the boy looked so attractive I had to continually force myself not to stare at him, for fear I might actually begin to drool. 

When we had begun our trek back to the school, we had started out with a modest distance between us but after some time I noticed that the space between us was gradually diminishing. Soon enough we were walking with mere inches between us and I wondered why it was I seemed to have this natural inclination to be close to him. True, I did find him more than attractive, but it seemed that he had some sort of pull to me, and I often found myself moving closer to him without even realizing what I was doing. 

"Dawn?" Connor asked suddenly, interrupting my thoughts and catching me slightly off guard. 

"Hmm?" I looked over to Connor, waiting for what he had to say.

"I'm not interested in Courtney," Connor stated firmly. 

"Ok," I responded. I gulped and turned my attention directly in front of me, feeling extremely paranoid that he was somehow able to read my thoughts. "That was somewhat random, wouldn't you say?"

Connor shrugged his response. He continued eyeing me, apparently still gauging my reaction. 

"You're so different," Connor remarked quietly, after a few more minutes of silence passed.

"Different?" I asked, unsure what he meant.

"Yes," he nodded.

"Is that good or bad?" I asked nervously. Connor remained quiet and thoughtful for a moment, causing my stomach to twist with anxiety.

"Good… I think," Connor finally replied, his voice laced with uncertainty. I wasn't sure how to respond to his admission, so I chose not to. We walked the rest of the way back to school in silence.

We arrived back at the school in time to hear the final bell ring, and slowly made our way through the halls. As we were about to split our separate ways, a stern-looking, elderly man, I recognized as Principal Huntley, approached us. 

"How nice of you to finally show up, Connor," Huntley remarked, with mock courtesy. 

"Figured I'd make an appearance," Connor answered sarcastically.

"Don't give me your attitude, or you _will_ be sorry," Huntley warned. "And I see you've made a new friend. Why am I not terribly surprised? I've been keeping my eye on you Miss Summers, I figured I'd be seeing you in my office soon enough. In fact, I'm surprised it's been this long. I'll be calling your father later this afternoon, just like old times. Be sure to give your sister my regards.

"And you, Connor, I'll be placing a call to your father later, as well. I'm sure he'll be just astonished that his only son is up to trouble, once again," Huntley stated, a sharp edge of sarcasm in his voice.

"I'm sure," Connor snapped.

"It's unfortunate that I must allow delinquents like the two of you to roam the halls of my school. Of course, if you decide to follow in your sister's shoes, and burn down the gym, or something of the like, I'll be forced to expel you from Hemery. And what a sad day that will be," Huntley glared at me as he spoke, and then returned his angry gaze to Connor.

"I'd hate to disappoint you, sir." Connor shoved his shoulder against Principal Huntley's as he pushed his way through the crowds of people to get away from our unpleasant principal. Huntley turned back towards me, fixing me with another angry glare causing me to jump slightly.

"Uh, bye," I said quickly, before darting down the hall toward my locker. I was surprised when I rounded the corner and found Conner leaning against my locker.

"Hey," I greeted, uneasily.

"Sorry about Huntley," Connor spoke quietly, watching as I opened my locker and began looking for my books.

"No problem. Buffy's already told me what a jerk he is. Just be happy we don't have Snyder."

"Buffy, your sister? She burned down the gym?" Connor asked, gazing at me suspiciously.

"She had good reason! The gym was full of asbestos!" I defended. Connor gave me a disbelieving look, but nodded as though he bought my excuse.

"Goodbye," he said before turning and heading towards his locker.

I watched him as he made his way down the corridor. If I was 'different' than he was just plain _strange_. 

***

TBC…

AN: Let me know if you liked it or not, or if you have any suggestions or comments; all feedback is appreciated.


	8. Part 8

**Author**: ImmatureLittleGirl **Email**: immaturelittlegirl@yahoo.com

**Disclaimer**: The characters in this story belong to the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Joss Whedon and maybe other people, I'm not sure I just know that I don't own them...

**Summary**: Dawn goes to live with her father in LA and has to learn to live without her sister. Strange coincidences lead her to meet an interesting person. Dawn/Connor

**Rating**: PG-13 I guess.

**AN**: Sorry if I confused anyone, I fudged the timelines a little bit to make it work. It's somewhere in Season 6 of Buffy and Season 4 of Angel, I think.

**PART 8**

As soon as I burst through the doors after school, I rushed up the stairs to get changed for patrol. I hurriedly threw on a pair of baggy sweatpants and a comfortable tank top, before pulling out my duffel bag and packing together the few weapons I had accumulated over the past week. Angel had given me a crossbow the night before, encouraging me not to get too close to the demons and avoid hand-to-hand combat at all costs. Unfortunately, my aim needed a bit of work, so I would still have to rely on my old, trusty, stake for a while longer. Not that I minded getting new toys at all; the crossbow had actually been quite a bit of fun. I had also picked up a few daggers and knives, which had been dropped or discarded by the vampires and demons I had come across, over the course of the week. 

I heard the phone start to ring just as I finished packing my bag together and quickly found the cordless phone tucked under my bed. I answered the call with a distracted, "Hello?"

"Dawn, its Buffy," she greeted, audible irritation in her voice.

"Hi, Buffy," I replied in a similar manner.

"I've gotten a few interesting phone calls in the past few hours, all regarding you. What do you think you are doing, patrolling the cemeteries in LA at night? And skipping classes, Dawn? Why are you doing this?" Buffy asked, still sounding annoyed but with a hint of worry creeping into her voice. 

"I just missed a few classes, no big! And I told you that there was a lot of demon activity in LA, and you didn't even care! You didn't care that I was hurt by a demon! You don't care that innocent people are dying here in LA! You don't care about anyone but yourself!" I shouted into the phone, angrily grabbing my bag and pounding down the steps into the living room.

"I'm the selfish one? Dawn, exactly how do you expect me to fight demons here in Sunnydale and in LA at the same time? Angel and many other people are working to control the demon population in LA; I am the single person that is assigned to guard the Hellmouth, here in Sunnydale. My hands are currently very full with an evil demon, once again, trying to open the gates to hell. I wish I could run back and forth between LA and Sunnydale and kill all the baddies, but logically, we both know I can't. 

"You're right. I'm sorry. I should have been more sympathetic about you being attacked by the demon. I'm sure it was very frightening, and I was worried about you and I did care, I've just been so busy with everything," Buffy confessed, the sheer exhaustion in her voice was audible, and for a moment a felt a bit guilty for calling her selfish.

"But you're always busy," I couldn't help from whining. 

"Busyness is part of being the slayer, Dawnie," Buffy replied. Walking farther into the living room, I climbed into my favorite chair, curling my legs underneath me.

"So how did you find out about the skipping classes?" I asked curiously, deciding to change the topic.

"Dad called me. He sounded very aggravated. I think he said he was going to ground you, which is a good idea, because you need to stay in. It's a dangerous time right now, with the apocalypse nearing, and you could be targeted for several reasons. I don't want you wandering around late at night, hanging in cemeteries."

"Grounded? Like he would even know if I went out, he's never home to see," I grumbled, unhappily.

"I mean it, Dawn, stay in tonight!" Buffy commanded firmly.

"Yeah, ok," I agreed, reluctantly.

"I'm likely to be busy a lot this week, but I'll give you a call as soon as I get a chance. I have to go now, though," Buffy informed me suddenly sounding hurried.

"Okay, tell the gang I said hi," I responded. We quickly said goodbye and I hung the phone up on its recharge base. For a moment, I looked at my bag, but then looked back at the phone reminded of the promise I had just made to Buffy. Again I looked at my bag, thinking of all the innocent people that might die by the mouths of vicious hungry vampires tonight. Buffy would never have to know. I purposefully looked over the fact that Angel would be likely to tell her. My mind swayed between keeping my promise to Buffy and patrolling, and then I remembered the crossbow Angel had given me. The people of LA could always use an extra warrior, and I could always use a little more practice with my new crossbow!

Hopping up from the chair, I grabbed my bag and hurried into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water to bring with me. Looking around the kitchen, I tried to think of something else I might be forgetting. Running through everything I needed, I remembered that my dad would probably be wondering where I was, so I grabbed a pen and jotted down a quick note telling him I was out with friends. Now I just needed to get out of the house before he got home from work and decided to ground me.

***

It was colder than I had expected it to be in the graveyard, later that night. I walked carefully through the rows of graves, hugging my arms to retain as much warmth as possible, as I searched for some vampires in need of staking. I looked around to see if I could spot Angel, but he was nowhere in sight. I knew he was probably out there somewhere watching me, but after hundreds of years of practice, he had really gotten that silent-stalker trait down.

I scanned the cemetery once again, and was excited when I saw a vampire off in the far distance, wearing a bright red shirt. I quickly went through my bag to find my crossbow and eagerly prepared the bow for firing. Lifting the weapon on my shoulder I tried to align it with the vampire but discovered it would be almost impossible to hit him from my position low on the ground. I looked around for something to climb to give me a little height and a better angle, hoping that would help, and noticed the tree a few feet away from me. Tossing the crossbow over my shoulder, I hastily climbed onto a lower branch, earning myself a few scrapes and scratches in the process. 

I watched as the vampire slowly made its way toward where I sat in the tree, apparently, completely oblivious to its impending death. Picking up the crossbow, I aimed for the night creature's chest, and once convinced I had a clear shot, allowed the wooden bolt to soar through the air, piercing its intended victim in the center of his chest.

I squealed in delight when I saw that I hit my target, but began to panic when the vampire did not explode into dust. I watched closely as the vampire stood once again, now looking around wildly. To my relief the vampire was, indeed, a vampire, which I could tell from the barely visible ridges on his face. I guessed the reason he was still intact was that I had missed his heart. I tried to load another arrow into the bow but the vampire was now stomping closer; too close to be shot with a crossbow. I realized I needed a change of plan, and quickly.

I decided to forget the crossbow, and threw it to the side. I clutched my stake tightly, and prepared to jump out of the tree, launching a surprise attack on the unsuspecting vampire. I pushed aside my nerves that were building and tried to remember all the pointers on fighting Angel had given me the night before. 

Hearing the rustle of someone walking through sticks and grass beneath the tree, I decided it was time to make my move. I held the stake lightly between my ring and index finger, and tightened my grip on the limb of the tree I had been perched on. I swung down, kicking out at the figure that had been walking directly under me. The figure stumbled backward and fell, banging his head against a gravestone with a loud smack.

Regaining my balance, I gripped my stake and started toward the fallen figure, but froze when I saw exactly whom I had just attacked.

"Connor?!?" I gasped in astonishment. I hurried to kneel by his side, and he looked up at me, at first in surprise, before his eyes darkened in anger.

"Dawn?" he questioned, his voice dangerously low. I gulped nervously, and sucked in a deep breath.

"I'm so sorry, Connor. I didn't know it was you! There was a…" I trailed off trying to think of an excuse before remembering what I was trying to cover up. I looked around, but didn't see the vampire anywhere. "What were you doing out here? Are you all right?" I asked instead of explaining. I reached forward to try and look at his head, which he was holding gingerly. 

"I was on my way home," Connor answered, yanking away from my touch while still glaring at me suspiciously. "What are _you_ doing out here?"

"I was, uh…" I trailed off, completely stumped as to what to tell him. "I'm really sorry!" I told him again. His eyes widened in surprise as he focused on something in back of me, and I watched as he tried to reach out and grab me, just as I felt something else grab me from behind. I was yanked to my feet and spun around by the vampire wearing the bright red shirt that I had been stalking before.

"You're going to pay for this you little bitch," the vampire snarled, pressing the arrow I had shot at him into the skin under my chin. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, trying not to swallow, as the sharp tip of the arrow began to cut into my flesh. I took a few seconds to try and calm myself, before I dared to use my free hand to shove the vampire in the chest. His grip on me loosened slightly, and I used this advantage to try and scurry past him, slicing my jaw a bit in the process, and find the stake I had dropped a few moments ago. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to get very far; the vampire simply spun around and seized me by both of my shoulders, pulling me against him. I struggled against him, but found the attempt was futile; he was much stronger than I was, and I was no match for him strength wise. 

I shuddered as he licked the cut along the underside of my jaw; panic setting in, once again. As I felt his fangs dig into my neck, and begin to suck the blood from my body, dozens of thoughts began to spin through my head. I knew Buffy was going to be _so_ mad at me. And where was Angel when you needed him? 

I tried to struggle, wanting to at least go out with a fight, but the more I fought, the deeper he dug his fangs, and the more pain it caused. Suddenly, he yanked his fangs away from my neck, as his face contorted in agony. I watched as he exploded into dust and blew away with the wind. Connor was poised in an attack stance, holding the stake, in front of me. I stared at him for a moment in shock, before stumbling, feeling a bit lightheaded. 

Connor took a step forward, placing one hand on my waist to steady me, and another hand on the side of my face. He carefully looked at my bite mark for a moment, before pressing his hand against the wound to stop it from bleeding. His eyes connected with mine and for a moment we stood completely still, staring at each other, before Connor leaned forward pressing his lips against mine. 

My heart began to race with panic as I realized what had just happened and what was now happening. I took a step forward, wrapping my arms around his neck, partially for support, partially to deepen the kiss. The thought occurred to me that this was likely to be the last thing I _should_ be doing at the moment, but I had been caught up in the moment, and couldn't seem to care. 

A long minute or so passed before we both lost our footing tumbling to the ground, not breaking the kiss. I knew both our intentions were completely, or at least almost completely, innocent, but from prying eyes we might have appeared to be in a compromising position, as we continued the make out session lying in the grass with Connor hovering over me.

"What in the hell do the two of you think you are doing?" a loud booming voice shouted angrily, causing the both of us to pull apart slightly, to see whom the voice belonged to.

Connor sat up slightly and rolled his eyes, while I nearly died of embarrassment on the spot as I looked up to see Angel glaring at the both of us expectantly. "What did it look like we were doing?" Connor asked flippantly. Angel's eyes squinted a bit in anger, and I tried to think of something, anything, to say that would calm him down.

"You had better hope you weren't doing what it looked like you were, otherwise you are both going to be in more trouble than you can imagine!" Angel shouted.

"And what could you do about it?" Connor asked, raising his voice a bit as well. The both of us sat up completely, Connor moving a foot or so away.

Angel remained quiet, a forlorn look crossing his face for a moment. He tried to come up with a threat, but apparently failed. "You're both hurt," Angel commented more calmly, instead.

"I'm fine," I whispered, looking down at my own bloodied hands. I began to shiver, again being reminded of how cold it was outside. Connor's anger subsided some, as he crawled a bit closer to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. A moment of silence passed before I heard Angel sigh with irritation.

"As if you hadn't gotten into enough trouble today. Do you have a daily quota you have to meet?" Angel questioned, clearly annoyed. I was hurt a bit by his comment at first, but soon confused by Connor's reaction.

"Now that you mention it, yeah, actually I do. As a matter of fact, everything I do is in the hopes I will piss you off," Connor replied sarcastically in annoyance. He stood up easily, and then crouched down to try and help me to my feet.

"You're only going to get yourself killed one of these days. The both of you. If either of you could just take some advice on occasion, you might figure out that you don't know everything, yet." Angel took another step closer to us. 

"Huh?" I asked quietly, glancing between Connor and Angel in confusion, neither seemed to hear me though.

"We don't need your help," Connor snapped, causing Angel to halt his approach. 

I looked over at Angel, who was now giving me a concerned look, and noticed that my eyesight was suddenly very blurry. The world began to spin and I suddenly wished I were still sitting. I felt my knees buckle and someone's hands reach out to grab me just before the world went dark and I passed out cold.

***

**TBC**!

AN: Sorry, I know this chapter was a little shorter than the others; I hope it's still okay though. Let me know what you thought of this chapter or if you see any errors that could use fixing. 

About an hour and a half after writing this story, I actually passed out too, kinda ironic huh?


	9. Part 9

**Author**: ImmatureLittleGirl **Email**: immaturelittlegirl@yahoo.com

**Disclaimer**: The characters in this story belong to the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Joss Whedon and maybe other people, I'm not sure I just know that I don't own them...

**Summary**: Dawn goes to live with her father in LA and has to learn to live without her sister. Strange coincidences lead her to meet an interesting person. Dawn/Connor

**Rating**: PG-13 I guess.

**AN**: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. Thanks for being patient, though. Sorry if I confused anyone, I fudged the timelines a little bit to make it work. It's somewhere in Season 6 of Buffy and Season 4 of Angel, I think.

**PART 9 **

I awoke slowly, finding difficulty focusing on the sights and sounds around me. Everything still looked very blurry, and the voices I could hear were mumbled and unclear, but my condition was improving and soon I was able to distinguish my surroundings. I was lying on a couch, in a room with very high ceilings, and a woman was sitting beside me, pressing a cold cloth to my face. I immediately tried to sit up, but found that I could barely move, my entire body felt drained of all its strength.

"Relax Dawn, don't try to get up," I heard a vaguely familiar voice say to me. I looked at the woman speaking to me and tried to focus on her face. After a moment, it occurred to me who she was. 

"Cordelia?" I asked, again trying to sit up, this time managing to prop myself up on my elbow.

"Yeah. How are you feeling?" she asked, smiling sweetly. I began to second-guess myself: since when was Cordelia so pleasant?

"Fine. A little tired, though," I replied, looking around the room. I was surprised to see a demon, with green skin and horns sitting across from me. "Where am I?" I asked sucking in a breath.

"This is the Hyperion, where we run Angel Investigations. And this is Lorne," Cordelia explained. I paused as I looked over the demon, and his neon green suit.

"Uh, hi," I greeted, uneasily.

"Hi there, Sweet Cheeks. Can I get you something to drink, perhaps?" Lorne suggested, smiling smoothly. 

"No, I'm good," I answered, struggling to pull myself into a sitting position. Cordelia placed a hand on my back to help ease me up.

"I'll go tell Angel she's awake," Lorne offered, giving me another friendly smile before disappearing somewhere behind me. 

I felt my neck, remembering where the vampire had bitten me, but all I could feel were bandages. Looking down at my bloodstained shirt and arms, I felt as though I were trapped in a dream; my head still felt very cloudy. 

"Where's Connor?" I asked abruptly, remembering he and Angel's strange behavior before I passed out. They had been speaking to each other as if they knew one another.

"He's with Angel, in his office. They've been in there arguing since they brought you back here," Cordelia replied, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"Do they know each other?" I asked still feeling confused.

Cordelia smiled with apparent amusement as she answered, "Something like that."

Angel strode into the room a moment later, preventing me from questioning Cordelia any further. Connor was walking just a few paces behind him, and found his seat in a chair a few feet away from the couch I was on. Angel came to stand in front of me. 

"Dawn, are you feeling better?" Angel asked with concern.

"I'm fine," I answered again, looking over to Connor who was sitting back, calmly watching everyone. Angel looked to Cordelia for confirmation of my response and she nodded.

"She should probably get some rest," Cordelia suggested quietly to Angel.

"I'll take her home," Connor offered standing up behind Angel.

"I don't think so. You are going to stay here. I'll take her home," Angel insisted, glaring at Connor.

"I'm not staying here!" Connor snapped, returning Angel's glare. "And I'm not letting you take her home alone."

"Well, I'm certainly not allowing _you_ to take her home alone. God knows what would have happened if I hadn't shown up when I did!" Angel shouted. I groaned grabbing my head, which was beginning to hurt from the shouting and the confusion. 

"She probably still would have passed out from the loss of blood," Cordelia answered logically. "The both of you can take her home and chaperone each other," she added after a moment. Angel and Connor glared at each other for another long minute before agreeing reluctantly. 

I stood slowly, wobbling slightly, but Angel put an arm on my shoulder to stabilize me. "Maybe you should rest a little longer," Angel suggested, carefully watching to make sure I didn't fall over or pass out again.

"No, I'll be okay. I just want to go home," I responded. I sounded pathetic even to myself, but I didn't care; I was exhausted and cold and I wanted to go home to bed.

"Okay, I'll be right back," Angel told us before going back towards his office. I waited patiently, trying to ignore the fact that Connor was practically gawking at me.

"What?" I snapped irritably.

"You fight vampires?" Connor finally asked, clearly surprised.

"Umm…" I looked at Cordelia, wondering if it was all right to answer that question for him.

"She's not supposed too," Cordelia responded smirking. "If Buffy were to find out what happened tonight, I believe she would probably kill you herself, if she is even remotely as overprotective of you as she used to be. So Dawn, I suppose it's a good thing Angel wasn't able to get a hold of your sister tonight, wasn't it?"

"Yes, I guess. You're not really going to tell her, are you?" I asked worriedly.

"Angel intends too, but I'll see if I can persuade him not to mention it," Cordelia assured me.

"Buffy, your sister, she's the slayer?" Connor asked quietly.

I glanced at Cordelia quickly to see if it was okay to answer this question as well, but Cordelia simply rolled her eyes at Connor's question. "Yep, Buffy the big, bad, slayer," Cordelia muttered.

Connor continued staring at me, waiting for my response, as if he hadn't heard Cordelia's answer.

"Yes," I replied, before Angel returned a moment later.

"Gunn and Fred need to use the car for an assignment that requires a quick get away, so I won't be able to drive you home. Do you have enough energy to walk?" Angel asked.

"Yeah, I'll be okay. Where's my bag?" I asked, looking around the lobby for my weapons. I hoped they hadn't left my stuff behind; I had just started to accumulate a nice collection. 

Connor lifted up the bag that was sitting on the floor on the other side of his chair. I reached out to take the bag from him, noticing how much heavier it felt now than it had earlier that night. I opened it and looked through it for the bottle of water I had thrown in before leaving for patrol. Uncapping the bottle and taking a drink, I noticed something very important missing.

"Where's my crossbow?" I practically shouted, as I rummaged frantically through the bag, although it was obviously not in there.

"We didn't see it when we left, it must not have been with the rest of your things," Angel explained, looking over my shoulder into my bag.

"You mean it's gone?" I asked, my eyes widening sadly with disappointment.

"On the way back from taking you home, I'll stop by the cemetery to look for it. If I can't find it, I'll try to get you a new one. Come on, let's get you home before your father gets angry," Angel suggested as he started toward the front entrance.

"I doubt he's even home to notice I'm not," I remarked as I followed Angel and Connor up the stairs. Angel and Cordelia seemed to have missed the bitterness in my voice, but Connor shot me a sympathetic look, as he waited to hold the door for me. 

As I passed where Connor stood, he took my duffel bag and tossed it over his shoulder. Under normal circumstances, I would have insisted on carrying it myself, but at that moment, I hadn't the energy to argue, never mind carry the bag all the way home; I could just barely carry myself.

Angel led the way down the sidewalk a few paces in front of where Connor and I followed side by side. The night was eerily silent, and I noticed that both Connor and Angel appeared to be on edge for some reason.

"So, you two know each other?" I asked quietly, unsure if I was supposed to talk, since it looked as though Connor had been listening for something. 

Angel and Connor both stopped walking for a moment after hearing my question, and Angel fell back to walk closer to us before trying to answer my question.

"Connor is my son," Angel clarified, casting Connor a cautious look.

"Huh?" I asked loudly, stopping dead in my tracks, my eyes darting back and forth between Connor who was concentrating on the sidewalk and Angel who appeared to be looking for an easier explanation.

"He's my son," Angel repeated more slowly this time.

"But how? Why wouldn't you have told us this before? Why didn't we meet him before? And… and… how?" I asked, trying to voice some of the dozens of questions that were swarming around in my head.

"It's a very complicated story. Connor was born last year but was kidnapped and taken to another dimension where time moved differently. He was gone for less than a month here, but Connor aged about eighteen years in the other dimension before he found a way back. I hadn't really gotten the opportunity to tell Buffy about the situation yet," Angel explained quietly.

I stared at the both of them dumbly for a moment or so, wondering if they were being serious. Looking over Connor I could see that he did bare quite a resemblance to Angel and suddenly I was surprised I had missed it before now. I took a moment to think of some way to respond, but I was completely floored. Connor was Angel's son; I had a crush on my sister's ex-boyfriend's kid. My world was askew.

"But then who is your mother?" I asked, looking Connor over again, trying to see if I recognized anyone else's features in him. Connor looked to Angel and waited for him to answer the question rather than do so himself.

"Darla," Angel responded, wincing slightly.

"Darla?" I scoffed, looking at Angel incredulously. "I thought she was dead!"

"She is dead. Again," Angel clarified. 

"But… What about your soul?" I asked, still trying to make sense of the confusion.

"I didn't… Darla and I… we weren't in love. So… it wasn't perfect happiness," Angel stuttered, obviously uncomfortable discussing the events with me. 

"Oh," I mumbled, as I began to really absorb everything they were saying, or more specifically Angel was saying. Connor was simply standing quietly, looking down the street or at the ground, desperately trying to avoid eye contact. I remembered that from what I had understood, Connor and his father did not get along, and I began to wonder why that was. 

Before I was given the chance to ask anything else, a group of vampires, wearing dark purple cloaks and carrying the same long gold swords, surrounded us.

"Key," one of vampires hissed at me. Connor and Angel both took a few steps closer to me as they quickly surveyed the enemies. Not taking his eyes off the vampires as they began to close in on us, Connor quickly unzipped my bag and grabbed for a weapon. He pulled out one of my daggers and dropped the bag on the ground.

"That's not going to kill them," I whispered, my voice bearing an edge of panic as I nervously stepped closer to Connor.

"It doesn't have to. Just get her out of here. Now!" Angel whispered back to Connor, before rushing toward the vampires, trying to take out as many as possible.

Connor grabbed my arm harshly and began to run, trying to pull me along with him. "Wait!" I shouted watching as Angel tried to take on six or seven vampires at once. "We can't leave him! He's out numbered!" I frantically tried to pull my arm away from Connor who still held strong to it.

"He can take care of himself. We have to go!" Connor practically ripped my arm from its socket as he began to pull me in the opposite direction. Unable to put up much of a fight, I finally conceded to follow Connor. We only got halfway down the block before one of the cloaked vampires caught up to us.

"Give me the key," the vampire snarled, eyeing me from only a few feet away. Connor quickly gave me a suspicious look before stepping in front of me protectively. I gulped thickly, believing we were done for, for the second time that night.

The vampire swung his sword in an arc that was meant to split Connor down the center, but Connor was able to stop the sword as it came down, stabbing the vampire through the wrist. Connor caught the sword's handle skillfully as it fell from the vampire's grasp and decapitating the vampire, all in the same movement. He again grabbed my hand, pulling me along a little less forcefully this time. I followed him for a few blocks, aware that we were not heading in the right direction toward my house, but too scared to question anything.

"Where are we going?" I finally asked a good fifteen minutes after the last time either of us had said anything.

"I'm taking you home," Connor answered distractedly. His eyes darted everywhere as he quickly strode down the street, his hand still firmly clasping mine.

"I don't think this is the way to my house," I commented uneasily. I looked for anything familiar to try and hint at where we were, but in the dark I couldn't see anything I recognized.

"We're taking the long way," Connor replied, still not looking at me as he answered.

"Oh, ok," I said, still searching for something familiar. "Why?" I asked, wondering why he would want to take the scenic route when dangerous vampires were stalking us.

"We're taking the route that they won't be expecting. We won't walk into a trap," Connor explained, stealing a quick glance at me before returning his concentration to his surroundings. I nodded, agreeing that seemed logical enough and continued to follow him. 

As the minutes passed by, I began to disagree with Connor's idea to take the long way home. My legs were growing tired of walking, my head felt horribly dizzy, and the night was getting progressively cooler. I could just feel the whine from the exhaustion building in my throat. I refused to give in just yet; but I knew I didn't have much longer before I just collapsed. A few more quick paces and I stumbled forward tripping over my own feet. Connor grabbed my upper arm to keep me from falling.

"Sorry," I mumbled, standing up straight and withdrawing my arm from him. He sighed looking around quickly before again staring at me blankly. I could tell from the tension, his irritation with me was growing. "Can we stop for a minute and take a break, or just slow down a bit?" I asked, taking a deep breath as I tried to focus my eyes on something without my vision blurring.

"Okay," Connor answered reluctantly, looking around again, and then returning his attention to me. He leaned the sword he was carrying against the wall beside us and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he stared at me. I almost expected him to start tapping his foot.

"Look, I can find my way home from here. Why don't you go on without me?" I offered, desperately trying to keep calm. The last thing I wanted was to be lost, unarmed, injured, and stranded alone when there were evil vampires chasing me, but I honestly couldn't keep up with Connor much longer without passing out again.

"You don't know where we are," Connor replied, crossing his arms over his chest in a manner very similar to Angel.

"I need to slow down. Please," I begged, hoping Connor would be more cooperative.

"You're neighborhood is a block and a half that way," Connor informed me, pointing his hand somewhere to the right. "We're almost there."

"Fine," I whimpered, following as he grabbed his sword and started down another gross, dark, alleyway. He was walking at a slightly slower pace, but I was still having quite a bit of difficulty keeping up. "Almost there, almost there," I began whispering under my breath. 

I continued repeating my mantra as I followed Connor until I noticed that my surroundings were suddenly very familiar. I realized we weren't five minutes from my house, and a wide smile spread across my face as I began to fantasize about crawling into my bed and passing out for hours straight. Hell, I was even considering remaining unconscious for the entire weekend. A nice _safe_, peaceful slumber; I mean what was safer than sleeping? I had never been injured while I was sleeping. Well, except for that one time I accidentally almost suffocated myself under my pillow, but I had only been four at the time. So that didn't count, right?

"We're almost there!" I stated excitedly, speeding up my pace considerably. I knew I could find my way home from where we were and so I ran ahead using up what little energy I had left to catch up with Connor. 

"Yeah," he replied distractedly. Looking up at him I could see that he was concentrating on something else, and I doubted he had even heard what I said. I rolled my eyes, thinking how typically Connor it was to be on edge when we were merely yards away from safety. Ignoring Connor's obvious mistrust of the situation, I hurried ahead of him in the direction of my house. As I turned the corner my house was located on, I felt Connor grab my arm and spin me around to face him.

"What now?" I asked with exasperation. Connor answered by simply holding his finger to my lips and then pointing around the corner in the direction of my house. Peering around the corner I could see that my house was surrounded by dozens of the vampires wearing purple cloaks. I wanted to burst into tears at that very moment. "No! What do we do now?" I whined quietly. Connor shook his head and watched the vampires for a moment before grabbing my hand and dragging me back the way we came.

"Come on," Connor whispered quietly. I wanted more than anything to refuse to walk anymore, but I knew that wasn't an option if I wanted to make it through the night. Although, by this point, I was beginning to seriously consider death as a promising alternative to sleep.

"Where are we going now?" I whispered once we were a safe distance from the house.

"Somewhere where you'll be safe," Connor answered, looking me in the eye.

"Who are those guys? And why are they looking for me?" I questioned, hoping Connor would have some idea what was really going on.

"You tell me," Connor stated harshly, narrowing his eyes at me suspiciously.

"How would I know?" I asked, not understanding his sudden change in demeanor. 

"What are you?" Connor asked letting go of my hand and stopping to glare at me.

"What am I?" 

"A key?" Connor took a step closer, looking me up and down suspiciously.

"Well, sort of…" I tried to think of a way to explain myself simply, which was, of course, no small task.

"Sort of?"

"I'm a mystical energy that has the power of opening dimensions, incased in the body of a teenage girl. Can we go now?" I recited hurriedly.

"You're a mystical energy?" Connor repeated, his brow furrowing in confusion.

"Technically," I answered uneasily. "I'm still human though! Just not in the strictly traditional sense," I trailed off, looking down at the ground to avoid seeing a look of revulsion on Connor's face.

"I can relate," I heard Connor admit quietly. I chanced a look up at him and was surprised to see that he didn't appear to be angry or overly suspicious. 

"You can?" 

Connor shrugged his shoulders, but remained silent for a moment. "Let's go," he said, taking my hand again and continuing down the sidewalk. Connor walked at a much slower pace, so I took advantage of the opportunity to stand as close to him as I could, trying to steal some of his body warmth. "Cold?" he asked, obviously noticing my close proximity.

"Just a little," I answered, blushing as I backed off. Connor stopped for a moment to take off his black sweatshirt and handed it to me.

"Put this on. It'll help disguise your smell, if they're out looking for us," Connor stated watching as I pulled the sweatshirt over my head.

"Thanks," I replied, truly thankful for the warmth. Connor nodded and waited for me to adjust the sweatshirt, before he began to cut through my neighbor's lawn. "Wait, where are you going?" I asked trying to catch up again.

"Short cut," Connor replied, looking back to make sure I wasn't far behind.

"Oh," was my only response as I followed behind him through the bushes and trees in my neighbors' back yard. 

On the other side of the thicket, we found another person's back yard. As Connor and I crossed the yard, a strong gust of wind blew through, causing the swings on a nearby swing-set to sway. The shrill whining noise that came from the swings caused Connor to halt immediately, drawing his sword defensively.

"Relax Connor, it's just a swing-set," I explained, placing my hand on his arm to calm him.

"What?" he questioned looking at me but remaining in his defensive stance.

"A swing-set," I repeated, waiting for recognition to dawn in his eyes, but he continued to watch me, waiting for further explanation. "It's a children's toy!" I was shocked that he didn't even know what a swing-set was and began to wonder what other little things he had missed out on in his childhood.

"Strange contraption," Connor commented, before allowing his sword to drop down by his side and moving on through the yard.

"You do know where you're going, right?" I asked following a few paces behind him.

"Yeah," he answered, not stopping to elaborate.

"Sure wish I did," I muttered under my breath. 

We continued walking for about ten more minutes, before we began to approach a graveyard. The entire cemetery was fenced in by a stonewall, about three feet high that had a metal gate made up of four foot long metal posts on top of it. Connor climbed up and over the fence quickly without difficulty, and turned to wait for me to do the same.

"Are you kidding? I can't do that!" I exclaimed, eyeing the fence that came to well above my head.

Connor sighed looking around, but the entrance to the graveyard was well out of our way. "Can you squeeze through the bars?" Connor asked eventually.

"Yeah maybe," I remarked sarcastically. Connor examined the fence silently.

Suddenly, he placed a hand on two of the bars and began to pull them apart. To my absolute astonishment, he was actually able to bend the bars and make a wider opening. "What about now?" he asked casually.

"Holy shit! How did you do that?" I asked, testing the other bars to see if they were flexible, but I was unable to budge them.

Connor shrugged nonchalantly, and waited for me to crawl through. It took me a moment to get up on the stonewall and then slip through the bars. "So you have, like, super strength?" I questioned as I brushed myself off and began to look around.

"Yeah," Connor answered as he began to head off in a new direction.

"Geez, do you ever slow down to take in the scenery? Every time I ask you something, you walk away," I commented, trying to catch up with him _again._

"Sorry," Connor replied, still not stopping. Taking a look around, I recognized the cemetery as the one we had been in earlier that night. I scanned the graveyard, looking for the tree I had collapsed near, hoping I would be able to find my lost crossbow. I noticed the tree dead ahead of us, and smiled to myself happily, or as happily as one can smile under such circumstances.

I skipped ahead as we approached the tree and began to search for my crossbow, hoping to find it before Connor rushed me on. I spotted it near the tree where I must have dropped it when I kicked Connor. I cringed at the memory, immediately feeling guilty again. I glanced at the headstone where he had hit his head and noticed there was a little blood on it.

"Sorry about before. Ya know, when I kicked you," I told him, as I picked up my crossbow and began to inspect it for damage.

"I'm fine," Connor stated dryly. "Let's keep going. We're almost there."

"Almost where?" I asked, but got no response. Instead I followed as Connor made his way out of the graveyard, this time choosing to use one of the entrance gates rather than climbing over the fence, or through in my case.

We exited the cemetery in a more developed side of town. Most of the stores and shops were closed at this hour, which I guessed to be in the early hours of the morning. The streets were mostly deserted, with the exception of a few people walking around aimlessly, and the occasional group of people loitering on the corner of streets. 

"Want anything?" Connor asked, nodding in the direction of a convenient store that appeared to be open on the corner of the street opposite of us. 

"Uh, no." My stomach growled quietly at the thought of food, but the sketchy group of people hanging around outside the store persuaded me to ignore my hunger. We continued down the sidewalk a few more paces, before Connor suddenly ducked into the entrance of a run down building.

"Come on," Connor said, holding the door open for me. I hesitated a moment, looking up at the old worn building. Many of the windows were smashed in and it looked as though some of the bricks had fallen out of the side of the building. One of the top corners of the building was boarded up and the bricks were blackened where there had obviously been a fire where the damage had yet to be repaired.

"Where are we?" I asked, stepping inside the building uneasily.

"Where I live," Connor answered as he began to climb the stairs. I stood for a moment, my mouth hanging open wide with shock. I couldn't imagine anyone living in such horrible conditions. I heard the noise of something scurrying around on the floor nearby, and hurried to catch up with Connor. "Don't touch the banister," Connor warned, and I immediately retracted my hand nervously.

We climbed two flights of stairs, before Connor lead me down a dark and dirty hallway. He stopped in front of a door that was covered in peeling, white, paint and slid a key into the lock. He opened the door to reveal a very tiny room and waited for me to step inside so he could shut the door and slide on all the locks. I backed up a bit to give him more room, but immediately walked into something I guessed to be a chair.

"Careful," Connor commented quietly, as he walked over to a corner in the room and turned on a lamp. The light revealed, what appeared to be, a very tiny kitchen. There were a few cabinets, a tiny refrigerator, a stove that had to have been at least three times as old as I was, and a big gap in the counter, which I assumed, at one time, had been meant for a dishwasher. In the center of the room, there was an old end table that, I guessed, served as the kitchen table and two mismatched chairs that appeared to be falling apart. 

"Umm, it's… nice," I commented, looking around the room, desperately trying not to grimace. "We're safe here?"

"Safer than our other options for tonight," Connor answered with a shrug. 

"Isn't that comforting," I remarked sarcastically, placing my crossbow down on the table.

"Nothing is going to harm you here," Connor stated firmly, taking a few steps closer to stand in front of me.

"Good," I replied quietly, staring up at him nervously.

"This place is kind of small, but you can lay down in there and get some sleep," Connor offered, nodding in the direction of the dark doorframe on the other side of the table.

"Okay," I said walking toward the door he indicated. 

I peered into the room carefully, but it was too dark to see anything, except for the small glowing, red, numbers on the digital clock, sitting on the floor. I noticed it was already three o'clock in the morning and I began to wonder how I made it so long without giving up and just going to sleep on the sidewalk. I felt around for a light switch, but when I eventually found it, it didn't work. Sighing, I turned around to ask Connor where the light was, but he was no longer there. I could see a little light glowing under the door of what I had previously assumed to be a closet but now guessed to be a bathroom. 

"If I were a lamp, where would I be?" I asked myself aloud as I walked into the room, feeling around to keep from bumping into something. After a few steps, I almost tripped, feeling something springy beneath my feet. Kneeling down, I realized the springy something was a mattress, and so I crawled up the mattress until I was beside the digital clock I had seen before. Reaching around near the clock, I found a small lamp and turned it on, lighting the room. 

Once the room was lit, I was surprised to see how small it actually was. The room was bare except for the mattress, the lamp, the clock, and a door on the right wall. Yet considering how little the room contained, it was very cramped, the mattress taking up most of the floor space. Looking around the room uneasily, I began to wonder what I had gotten myself into. 

With a sigh, I pulled Connor's sweatshirt off and tossed it to the side. I pulled my tank top away from skin for a second, noticing how sticky and uncomfortable it was, clinging to my skin, covered in my dry blood. 

"Here," Connor said as he walked over to the door in the corner of the room and pulled a t-shirt from his closet. "That might be more comfortable," he offered, tossing the shirt on the mattress beside me.

"Thanks," I mumbled looking it over for a moment. I pulled his shirt on over mine and took my tank top off underneath. Once the bloodied garment was removed, I realized it was ruined for good. For a second, I contemplated which would be better to wear home in front of my father, after I had gone missing for a night: a blood soaked shirt or a boy's, but it was obvious that I was going to be screwed either way. That is, if my father even noticed I was gone, of course.

Connor pulled off his shirt and sat down on the corner of the bed, fiddling with the clock. I bit my lip nervously and slid under the blanket moving to the other corner of the mattress, hoping to hide from the inevitable awkwardness. Once Connor was finished fixing his clock, he slid up the bed and leaned his back against the wall. I waited a minute, expecting him to lie down beside me, but he instead remained sitting.

"Aren't you going to lie down and sleep?" I asked looking up at him.

"No," he shook his head.

"You can if you want. I mean, I wouldn't mind if you did." I pulled myself into a sitting position beside him. "I mean, unless, you would mind, in which case, I could stay up, it is your home. You should get some rest," I explained nervously.

"I'm fine," Connor stated. "Go to sleep."

"No, I'm fine too then." I leaned back against the wall, my shoulder touching his.

A few minutes of silence passed before I began to lose the battle against sleep. I slipped out of consciousness for a second and my head fell forward and bounced back up again, jolting me awake. I blinked a few times, trying to keep my eyes open, and prevent myself from falling back to sleep, but I didn't expect myself to last much longer.

"If I lie down, will you go to sleep?" Connor asked with a sigh.

"Uh huh," I agreed thankfully.

I quickly climbed back under his blanket, and watched to make sure Connor was going to get some rest, as well. Shaking his head, he lay down beside me on the bed, resting his head on his arm and staring up at the ceiling. I yawned as my exhaustion finally hit me full force, and I fell asleep seconds later.

***

TBC…


	10. Part 10

**Author**: ImmatureLittleGirl **Email**: immaturelittlegirl@yahoo.com

**Disclaimer**: The characters in this story belong to the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Joss Whedon and maybe other people, I'm not sure, I just know that I don't own them...

**Summary**: Dawn goes to live with her father in LA and must learn to live without her sister. Strange coincidences lead her to meet an interesting person. Dawn/Connor

**Rating: PG-13 I guess. **

**Author's Note**: I'm sorry but the timelines are all screwed up, but its kind of AU, so that's ok, right? Hope you can forgive me… And also I'm very sorry it has taken _SO_ long to get another update out. I'm such a slacker. I considered coming up with some very elaborate excuse for as to why it's taken so long to update, like I had a lobotomy or something, but I guess I'll just be honest and admit I've been lazy. I hope the next chapter will come sooner but if not, please don't hate me… And now, on to reading my tenth chapter! Yay!

PART 10 

I stood completely still, overcome by an intense feeling of fear as I watched the tiny droplets of blood drip down from my stomach. The air crackled around me, and I watched in horror as a portal began to tear the sky open. I turned to my side to see if Buffy could also see what was happening. Her eyes were the widest I'd ever seen them, and her body appeared to be stiff with tension. She clenched her fists together nervously and I began to wonder if she was going to cry; I certainly wanted to. I wasn't sure why, but the scene before me was achingly familiar and a feeling of pure dread was beginning to creep over me.

"I'm sorry," Buffy stated, finally looking over to me.

"Why?" I asked, feeling severely anxious and confused. I watched as a huge hell beast emerged from the portal and flew into our dimension.

"Because I can't save you this time," Buffy admitted, gazing at me regretfully.

"Why not?" I questioned, still not understanding what was going on around me or why this was happening. 

"You have to step up to your responsibility, Dawn. There won't always be someone there to protect you, especially not now."

"What's happening?" I asked; a feeling of panic seeping into my gut. She ignored my question and instead walked to the edge of the platform. Suddenly, the haze of confusion was lifted from me, and my memories clicked as I remembered exactly how this scene was supposed to pan out.

"No!" I screamed as I ran toward her, trying to stop her. She stood at the edge of the platform and I grabbed hold of her arm to prevent her from jumping. 

"Are you ready?" she asked, spinning around on me, and catching me off guard, as she wrapped her fingers tightly around my shoulders. It seemed as though time slowed as she pushed me forward, throwing me off the platform. I heard my own scream echo in my ears as I rushed downward, clenching my eyes shut to block out the bright, white, light engulfing me.

Abruptly everything around me went silent and my eyes snapped open. After a minute or so, my eyes were able to adjust to the bright light and I was able to see where I was.

Bolting up right, I realized I was in bed, beside Connor. I sucked in a breath as my memories of the night before came barreling back to me. Connor shifted beside me and propped himself on his elbow. 

"You okay?" he asked hoarsely, squinting at me. It was obvious my sudden movement had awoken him just then.

I remained silent for a moment as I contemplated the question. I didn't feel like I was even in the vicinity of okay. I felt like my entire life was one horribly long merry-go-round ride. And good God, did I hate merry-go-rounds; with all that spinning and instability, who could find it enjoyable?

I bit my lip as my eyes connected with his and I desperately willed myself not to burst into tears. I managed to answer with a quiet, "Yeah," while shaking my head 'no' to myself. I pulled my knees up under my chin and hugged them tightly to my body as a feeling of nausea began to sweep over me.

Sitting up completely, he moved closer to me. "What's wrong?" he asked, placing a comforting hand on my back. My body quickly soaked up the warmth of his hand, and I felt the nauseous feeling in my stomach subside some.

"Just…" Just what? I had a nightmare and now I'm going to cry about it? I couldn't say that. "Nothing. I need a shower," I stated, staring ahead at the grayish-whitish wall in front of me.

Connor stared at me for a few long seconds, before nodding in the direction of the kitchen doorway. "Bathroom's through there."

"Thanks," I replied, before climbing out from under his blankets and padding through the tiny apartment, over to the door on the other side of the kitchen. 

The bathroom door stuck and I had to lean back with all my weight in order to force it open. The bathroom was small and grimy; the faucets were covered in rust and mildew, and the faded green tiles were falling off the walls and missing in many places. As I turned to shut the door behind me, I hesitated. I wasn't sure I would be able to get it open again, but I decided my privacy was more important at this point and so I closed the door.

I stood in the center of the bathroom and stared into the mirror at my reflection. My long hair was knotted and tangled, my skin was freakishly pale, and my eyes were, to my own annoyance, clouding with tears once again. I wiped at my eyes with the back of my hand and sniffled quietly, trying to reign in my emotions. 

Taking a deep breath, my eyes focused on the bloody bandage on my neck. I carefully pulled the bandage off to see how badly I was injured. I wasn't surprised to find that the wound had already closed up. I had always been a fast healer; I theorized it had something to do with having the same blood as Buffy. It followed that if I had slayer blood, I probably had slayer antibodies too, right? I crumbled up the gauze and tossed it into a small trashcan, beside the sink. 

Examining the counter, I found soap, a comb, a razor, a toothbrush, a roll of toothpaste, and a few other toiletries, lying around. I used the comb to undo some of the bigger tangles in my hair and squeezed out some toothpaste, brushing my teeth with my finger. I then undressed and turned the shower on. The water was ice cold, but after a few minutes, it didn't bother me much at all. My eyes remained transfixed on the reddish-pink water that was traveling down the drain from the dried blood. I scrubbed my skin until I couldn't feel it anymore, and stepped out of the shower a good hour later, once I was satisfied I was clean. 

I opened the small closet across from the sink, expecting to find towels, but instead I found enough weapons to arm a small army. Who kept their weapons in the bathroom closet? With a sigh, I looked around the room for any other towels, but only spotted two, tossed on the floor in the corner, and they were covered in a sickening green liquid substance.

"How does he live like this?" I whispered to myself quietly. I picked the tee shirt he had given me the night before up off the floor and tossed it on. Thankfully, it was large enough that it fell to my mid-thigh, and wouldn't be terribly scandalous for me to wear just for the sake of peeking my head out of the room.

I turned the knob on the door and tried to open it, but the door was jammed. I pushed, but it remained stuck until I, once again through all my body weight into the door, checking it with my hip. I stumbled out the door and into the kitchen, where, to my mortification, I found not only Connor but also Tim and Josh standing around the makeshift kitchen table, leaning over a large cardboard box. The three looked up simultaneously, immediately dropping their jaws. Their conversation died on Tim's lips, and as they gaped at me, I suddenly felt extremely naked.

"Sorry. Connor, do you have a clean towel, and uh, maybe a dry shirt I could borrow," I mumbled, crossing my arms over my chest self-consciously as I realized I was soaked to the bone and my now wet shirt was clinging to me… a lot.

"Yeah," Connor answered, gulping visibly. Tearing his eyes away from me, he went into his bedroom. He was gone only a second before he returned with a fresh tee shirt. "The towels are in the hamper in there," Connor informed me as he handed me the shirt.

"You keep your clean towels in the hamper?" I asked, scrunching my nose in confusion.

"Yes, where would you keep them?" he asked, taking another step closer to me, blocking Tim and Josh's view.

"In the closet," I answered, logically.

"Then what do you use the hamper for?" he questioned quietly.

"Your dirty laundry!" I exclaimed in exasperation.

"Oh. The floor works too," he shrugged. Connor smirked slightly, looking me over once again, and I couldn't help narrowing my eyes at him in annoyance, although, logically, I knew it was my own fault for walking around in almost nothing.

Turning on my heel, I shut the door with a slam. I quickly dried off and dressed before trying to get the damn door open again. I was sure to brace one hand on the doorframe so that when I opened it, I didn't tumble out. 

The three boys were still standing around the box when I reemerged from the bathroom only a few minutes later. Tim and Josh were now grinning like idiots, but Connor clearly appeared to be annoyed.

"Hey," I greeted as a yawn escaped my lips.

"Late night, huh?" Josh commented, with a smile. 

"Yeah," I answered, leaning back against the counter casually. Josh glanced over to Connor and grinned even wider. The glare Connor shot back in return, clued me in to exactly what Josh had been implying. I felt my cheeks grow hot with embarrassment, and I began to inspect the floor.

"Well, kids, we must be off. My car isn't parked legally, and I can't afford to get a ticket," Josh stated as he slid on his leather jacket and grabbed his keys from the table. 

"I'll be down in a minute," Tim assured Josh, looking back over his shoulder.

"'Kay, don't be too long, or I'll leave without you. See you guys later. And hey, congratulations Connor!" Josh winked at Connor before quickly bolting out of the apartment. Connor shook his head slowly, staring at the door Josh had just exited.

"Sorry 'bout him. You'll have to excuse Josh's complete lack of tact," Tim apologized on Josh's behalf. 

"Nothing happened. She stayed the night because we were attacked by vampires," Connor explained. My mouth dropped open in surprise as I realized what Connor had just said in front of Tim. The look on Tim's face was similar to what I imagined the look on mine to be: that of shock.

"He knows about vampires?" I questioned, staring at Connor.

"Yeah, of course. This _is _LA," Tim replied.

"Of course. And I suppose Spike is your father, right?" I mumbled sarcastically. Connor and Tim exchanged a strange look before looking at me questioningly. "Never mind." 

"How does she know?" Tim asked Connor.

"Dawn's sister is a slayer," Connor clarified for Tim. 

"Huh? You mean, she's in the band?" Tim questioned, staring at me in confusion.

"No, she's a vampire slayer. She kills vampires," I explained.

"Oh. Kind of like Connor, then?" Tim deduced. 

"Yeah, I guess," I responded with a shrug. 

"Cool. Anyway, here's the information I was able to find on that demon for you. It says something about severing their spinal cord in order to kill them, but you might want to read it over yourself." Tim cringed slightly and handed Connor a folded piece of paper he pulled from his back pocket.

"Thanks," Connor replied, nodding.

"No problem. I better go meet up with Josh; otherwise, he really will leave without me. Oh, and thanks again about the storage," Tim remarked, smiling mischievously as he nodded toward the box on the table. Connor nodded his understanding and followed Tim to the door. 

"See ya," I said as Tim was making his way out the door. Tim waved and smiled before disappearing around the corner. Connor shut and locked the door as soon as he was out of his sight. "So… What's in the box?" I asked curiously, taking a few steps closer to the table so that I could peak into the box.

"Alcohol," Connor answered casually, pulling up one of the chairs beside the table and sitting backwards in the chair so that he could rest his chin on the backrest. 

"Alcohol?" I repeated, looking through the box. I pulled out a large bottle of Absolut vodka, and looked questioningly at Connor. "You drink?"

"Occasionally," Connor answered with a shrug.

"Oh…" I mumbled uneasily, raising both of my eyebrows. I set the bottle down on the table, and looked through the box a little more. There were several cases of beer as well as a six-pack of some pink stuff and a bottle of Jack Daniel's. "This is a lot, isn't it?"

"Yeah, Josh and Tim are stocking up for after that dance," he explained. 

"And you're holding it for them?" 

"So their parent's won't find it."

"I see," I remarked, placing the bottles back in the box. I was surprised that they were involved in underage drinking, and I wasn't sure how to react. In junior high in Sunnydale, only the 'bad kids' and the 'rebels' drank, but Tim, Josh, Emily, and Connor weren't 'bad kids'. They were good people, and they were my friends. I knew that I shouldn't be so shocked; in the few weeks I had known them, they had all made references to drugs and alcohol, but I hadn't really taken their comments seriously. "I didn't really think you were like… this…"

"Like what?" Connor asked, standing up and coming to stand beside me.

"I don't know. I didn't think you were the type to… do this… to drink…" I clarified.

"There's a type?" Connor questioned, looking down and staring into my eyes. His voice was steady and his posture casual, but his eyes seemed to have a defensive look in them, which left me feeling somewhat intimidated.

"Well, I g-guess not," I stuttered nervously. His eyes softened a bit and he stared into the box for a moment before glancing back at me.

"Sometimes, I just want to forget… everything," Connor commented, his voice growing deeper and more thoughtful. 

"I can understand that," I responded, placing my hand over Connor's hand, resting on the table. I really could empathize with wanting to be able to forget about everything. How many times had I desperately wished that I didn't know about vampires or demons or being a key? I frowned to myself realizing that the supernatural was almost all Connor knew about.

His eyes fell upon where my hand rested on top of his and he turned his hand over so that he held mine inside his grasp. I felt a blush creep up my cheeks and although I could feel his eyes on me, I couldn't drag my eyes away from our hands. I couldn't get over how much I loved the feel of his skin, his touch. It was surprisingly comforting. I looked up when I felt his other hand brush lightly against my cheek, as he brushed my damp hair over my shoulder. 

"Does it still hurt?" Connor asked as he gently ran his thumb over the bite marks on my neck.

"No," I quietly answered, looking up into his eyes.

He hesitated for a moment and I could tell that he was contemplating his next move before he finally leaned down, pressing his mouth against mine. His fingers tangled in my hair and he used his other hand to pull me closer to him, while I wrapped my arms around his neck to deepen the kiss further. We continued kissing for several minutes before Connor pulled away abruptly. I used the opportunity to take in a deep, needed, breath. Connor stepped around me slightly and pulled up one of the chairs. Sitting down, he pulled me into his lap and continued kissing me. 

I wasn't sure how long we had been making out for when we heard the knock on the door, but it seemed it had been quite some time. My stomach growled quietly and I remembered it was late afternoon and I still hadn't eaten anything.

"Hold on," Connor called, quickly lifting me off of him and hurrying to check through the peephole. He quietly cursed under his breath, before grabbing the box off of the table. "It's Gunn," Connor informed me as he carried the box into his bedroom and shoved it in his closet. Connor then returned to the door to slide all of the locks off and opened the door to let Gunn in.

"Took you long enough," a tall black man, Connor had referred to as Gunn, greeted, as he entered the apartment. Connor simply shrugged, rather than providing an excuse. "Angel's been pacing holes in the carpeting all day, he's been so worried. You're coming back to the hotel with me," Gunn insisted, glancing over at me before returning his glare to Connor.

"Right," Connor snorted, crossing his hands over his chest in defiance. 

"Fine, if you don't want to come, you don't have to, but she does," Gunn stated, then redirected his attention to me. "Your sister called, she said your father is looking for you. She's pretty pissed off at you too." 

"Uh oh," I muttered to myself, as I began to chew on my bottom lip nervously. How was I supposed to talk my way out of this one? 'Sorry I didn't come home last night, Dad. I slept with a boy, but don't worry! It's not what you think!' Yeah, maybe that'll go over well. 

"You need to come back to the hotel and go over the details with us of what happened last night, before you go home. And we'd like to get you home before sunset, that way we don't have to worry about the threat of those vamps coming back, before you're in the safety of your own home," Gunn explained.

"I, uh, okay, I guess," I trailed off, feeling uncertain about leaving with a person I'd never met before, but I trusted Connor's confirmation that this was indeed one of Angel's trusted employees. I looked around the kitchen floor and spotted my crossbow. As I picked up the weapon, Connor wrapped his fingers around my arm and pulled me towards him, taking the crossbow from me.

"Do you want me to go with you?" he asked quietly so that Gunn couldn't hear. I wanted to shout 'yes!' but I knew he didn't really want to go back to the Hyperion. 

"Well you did kill the vampire and take his sword, maybe you could tell them about that, I bet that would be helpful. You know, if you wanted to, I mean," I suggested, quickly glancing back at Gunn before looking up at Connor pitifully. 

"Yeah, I could do that," Connor agreed reluctantly. "One minute," Connor said, and disappeared into the bathroom and quickly reemerged with the golden sword in hand. 

"Okay, we're all going? Then let's leave," Gunn remarked opening the door and starting down the hall, ahead of us.

"Thanks," I whispered, taking my crossbow back from Connor.

"You're welcome," Connor whispered back into my ear, before taking my hand and leading me out of his apartment toward the end of the hall where Gunn was waiting for us.

~TBC~


	11. Part 11

**Author**: ImmatureLittleGirl **Email**: immaturelittlegirl@yahoo.com

**Disclaimer**: The characters in this story belong to the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Joss Whedon and maybe other people, I'm not sure, I just know that I don't own them...

**Summary**: Dawn goes to live with her father in LA and has to learn to live without her sister. Strange coincidences lead her to meet an interesting person. Dawn/Connor

**Rating**: PG-13 I guess.****

**Author's Note:** Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. I didn't forget about it, I just haven't had the chance to write. I've also had a really hard time with writer's block, so please forgive this chapter's sucky-ness. I'm sorry if you hate this chapter, I kind of do too. There's really only one thing worse than reading a boring chapter and that's writing one…

**Part 11**

As Connor and I strolled quietly into the Hyperion's lobby, I was struck by the intense silence that permeated the room. A young woman was seated on the sofa I had rested on the night before, quietly writing in a notebook while skimming through files she had spread out on the coffee table in front of her. Wesley, my sister's former watcher, was also standing at the counter, seemingly engrossed in a large, old, book. Both of the room's occupants seemed unnaturally quiet.

Gunn followed a few steps behind us, evidently unnoticing the somber atmosphere of the room. "We're home!" he announced, as he breezed by Connor and I, immediately heading towards a box of doughnuts resting on the counter. My stomach growled loudly at the thought of food and I couldn't help but be lured into the lobby further by the doughnut's temptation.

"Where in the hell have you been all night?" Angel shouted, as he marched into the lobby followed by the strange green demon Cordelia had introduced as Lorne. The booming sound of Angel's voice caused me to halt and spin in his direction immediately. I swallowed thickly and waited for someone else to answer the question, unwilling to draw any extra attention to myself.

"She spent the night sleeping with your darling baby boy," Gunn chimed before picking up a glazed doughnut and taking a bite. 

"What?" Angel asked, his eyebrows rising in shock as he looked to Gunn for further explanation.

"How old are these things?" Gunn asked Wesley, grimacing and spitting the doughnut into the wastebasket beside the counter, rather than paying attention to Angel.

Angel's eyes darted between Connor and I, before his gaze finally rested on me. "You slept together?" Angel repeated.

"N-no! No!" I denied emphatically, my eyes widening in panic. 

"Do you realize how dangerous it was to be running around in the middle of the night? You should have immediately come back here or at least gone home," Angel chastised. 

"Sorry," I mumbled, backing away nervously.

"You're sorry? You're lucky you weren't killed!" 

"I'm sorry," I repeated, a hint of annoyance creeping into my voice.

"Leave her alone," Connor defended from his place, still standing on the stairs near the entrance.

"I'm not the person she needs to worry about, right now," Angel stated seriously, glaring at Connor as he descended the stairs swiftly and stalked closer to me. "Last night you were targeted by a large group of vampires. Your father has been worried about your whereabouts all night long and is very upset about you skipping classes, not to mention your sister, who has sworn to eviscerate you the moment she gets her hands on you!"

My muscles involuntarily tensed up at the mention of Buffy's anger. I certainly wasn't afraid of my sister, but I also didn't enjoy being the matter of her temper tantrums. I felt Connor's hand slip around my waist and his breath just beside my ear as he leaned in close to whisper, "I won't let her."

I couldn't help from smiling as I realized he had taken my sister's threat literally. Angel's eyes narrowed in our direction and he folded his arms over his chest in aggravation. 

"All right, enough of that! We need to know what happened last night. Can you tell us what they said to you, or if you noticed anything significant about them that might help us figure out who they are?" Angel asked, looking over to Wesley.

"Yes, did you happen to observe anything unusual about their appearance that would differentiate them from your average vampires?" Wesley questioned, looking up from his old tome for the first time since Connor and I had arrived.

"Hmm… They kinda looked like evil, purple, monks," I offered.

"They were purple?" Wesley questioned, his brow furrowing in confusion. "Are you certain they were vampires?" Wesley began flipping through the pages in his book frantically.

"Oh no! They weren't purple, more of a pasty-white color. But their cloak-things were purple. Ooh! And Connor stole one of their cool sword things. Show'em, Connor," I explained, nudging Connor's arm gently.

"Here," Connor mumbled, tossing the sword to Angel. 

"Careful with that thing," I hissed quietly to Connor. 

"There seems to be an engraving on the hilt," Angel commented as he examined the sword.

"Allow me to inspect it," Wesley instructed, holding his hand out for the sword. Wesley traced the strange symbols that decorated the swords handle with his finger. "Hmm… The inscription appears to be written in Sanskrit. I believe it is making reference to a 'dimension opener' and also 'freeing the master,' but I would need to cross-reference this. My familiarity with Sanskrit has weakened over time. There also appears to be an engraved picture of a tiger on the base of the blade." 

"Does that help?" I asked, hoping that Wesley would now know what to do.

"Well, I'll have to translate the rest of the inscriptions, but so far we know that these vampires are most likely of Indian decent. It also sounds as though they are looking for you to open the dimension in order to free whomever they consider to be their master," Wesley explained. 

"Me?" I squeaked, wrapping my arms around my chest. The hand Connor had wrapped around my waist pulled me closer to him protectively.

"One would assume, given that they are looking for a way to open dimensions, and they have also already attacked you."

"From now on, Dawn, you are not to be out after sunset unless you are accompanied by one of us," Angel instructed, glaring sternly.

"No way! I'm not going to sit around at home on my but all night while there are vampires and demons running around," I insisted.

"Well, I know it isn't really any of my business," the young woman who had previously been taking notes interrupted. "But maybe she could help us here, at Angel Investigations with research. We've been pretty swamped with work, so she could prove to be a big help for us, and you wouldn't have to worry about her being out on her own fighting without any help."

Angel paused for a moment as he thought over the suggestion. "Would you agree to that?"

I glanced at Connor to see if I could read his thoughts on the idea, but his expression remained blank. Thinking the woman's suggestion over myself, I realized that by agreeing I would still be able to aid in the defense against evil, just from a much safer position.

"I guess I could agree to that. And maybe I could even help you guys out in the fighting occasionally!" I offered, smiling hopefully.

"No. No fighting," Angel stated.

"Not even maybe?" I asked, pouting slightly.

"Come on Angelcakes, humor the kid," Lorne persuaded.

"Fine, _maybe_."

"Great!" I smiled brightly at my small victory, while Angel appeared to be regretting his possible admission already.

"You can start Monday. Come here right after school ends," Angel instructed. 

"Sure thing."

"Gunn, would you mind taking Dawn home before the sun sets?" Angel asked.

"Yeah, no problem. You guys have fun with your research. Let's go." Gunn hopped off the counter he had been sitting on and started for the door.

"See you on Monday!" I bid, pulling Connor with me toward the door Gunn had just exited.

I noticed that the sun was already beginning to set as Connor and I descended the stairs and began walking toward where Gunn's truck was parked. It amazed me how quickly the day had blown by, and yet I still had so much more ahead of me. My pace slowed noticeably, once the thought that I still had to face my father occurred to me. Connor looked down at me questioningly, but I shrugged off my anxiety and gave him a small assuring smile.

"Thanks for coming with me," I said as Connor opened the door for me.

"Yeah, no problem," Connor replied with a shrug and climbed into the truck after me.

I rested my head on Connor's shoulder once he comfortably settled in beside me and allowed him to lace his fingers through mine. Gunn cast us a suspicious glance before starting the engine and pulling away from the curb. The droning on of the radio was the only sound that was heard the entire drive back to my house.

The truck pulled to a stop in front of my home just a few minutes later. I noticed that my father's car was parked in the driveway, which unfortunately meant that he was home. Of course, the one night a week he happens to make it home on time, also happens to be tonight. 

Connor silently opened the door to the truck and stepped out so that I could exit the cab. 

"Thanks for the ride," I mumbled to Gunn, before sliding off the edge of the seat and hopping down to the sidewalk.

"Yup," Gunn answered, fiddling with the radio, not paying me much attention.

My gaze was once again drawn back to my father's car in the driveway and I bit my lip nervously as I tried to think of something to tell my father about my previous night's whereabouts. 

"Will you be okay?" Connor asked, staring down at me. 

"Yeah, I'll be fine," I responded and began to slowly back away, unable to tear my eyes away from Connor's.

"Wait," Connor whispered, reaching a hand out and resting it on my arm. "I…" he began, but trailed off. I paused and waited for him to try and finish what he was saying, but instead he pulled me closer to him. Staring down at me, he hesitated a few seconds before leaning down and pressing a light kiss to my lips.

"I…uh…thanks…" I mumbled, blushing furiously. I glanced in Gunn's direction to see if he had been watching just in time to see his head snap away from us quickly. An amused grin was playing over his features. Connor's hand slowly trailed down my arm until he reached my hand. He squeezed it gently, then let go and stepped away.

"See you Monday," I said quietly, before turning and marching toward the front door.

Fortunately, the front door was unlocked, so I was able to sneak into the house without having to ring the doorbell and greet my father immediately, but I was only just in the front foyer a second or so by the time my father was already on me.

"Where the hell have you been?" my father shouted as he marched down the stairs. How fair is it that I have to have this conversation, _twice_? Last month, I didn't have any father figures in my life; now I have several?

"I slept over a friend's house," I answered, sighing loudly.

"Without asking my permission?" he fumed.

"I left a note," I replied, rolling my eyes.

"A note that just said you were going out with friends. It didn't say where you would be, whom you would be with, or what time you would be home. And a note is not asking permission!"

"You weren't around to ask. You never are. Am I just supposed to sit at home all by myself every night because you aren't home to ask permission if I can go out?"

My father paused in his argument, obviously unsure how to continue.

"I received a call from your principal about your skipping classes yesterday. I am not going to allow you to run wild like your sister did. We're going to set some ground rules from now on. For starters, you're grounded for the next month. You can go to school and come right home directly afterwards. Once that's over, you're not to be out after eleven o'clock without my permission, and no matter where you go, I want you to make sure to tell me where you are going to be and who you will be with."

"I can't be grounded! I just got an after school job," I informed him, a slight whine creeping into my voice.

"Doing what?" he asked with evident shock.

"I'm going to help out at a private investigator's office as a… secretary."

"How did you get that job? Why didn't you tell me you were looking for a job?"

"It was offered to me by Buffy's friend; he runs it," I explained, hoping the interrogation was coming to an end.

"Hmm, well I suppose that you could probably use to learn some more responsibility, and a job could teach you just that. All right. You can take this job, as long as you come directly home after work every day," my father conceded.

"Gee, thanks," I mumbled, beginning to start past him and head up the stairs.

"Dawn, where'd you get that shirt?"

I froze in my place, midway up the stairs. 

…So close.

"It's… Buffy's," I covered, instinctually placing the blame on my sibling without thought.

"It looks awfully big for Buffy," my father commented, suspiciously.

"Hmm… maybe that's why she didn't mind me borrowing it," I offered, shrugging with exaggerated innocence.

"Who did you say you were with last night?"

"Emily." It began to frighten me how easily lying was coming for me.

"The Emily that called here last night looking for you?" My dad's suspicious glare was turning quickly into an angry one.

"I… Well, at first I-I was hanging out with our other friends, Josh and Connor… and Tim. Emily… she was supposed to meet up with us. The times must have gotten confused… She was probably calling here to see where we were. She caught up with us eventually, though. And then I slept over her house. Ya know, so she wouldn't have to drive me home," I explained, trying to throw together my excuse on the spot.

"I see. You better not be lying to me, Dawn." 

"I'm not," I muttered pathetically, staring down at the floor.

"I made dinner for you. It's ready whenever you are. I have some work to finish up, so I'll be eating in my office, if you need me." And with that, my father stalked off down the hall.

As soon as he was out of sight, I sprinted up the stairs and into my room, slamming the door behind me. I quickly changed into clean clothes, and then sprawled out across my bed, burying my head in the pillow. I couldn't believe everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours. I also couldn't believe everything I had gotten myself into. Hadn't I planned on changing my life around? What happened to my nice normal life here in LA away from the demons and the slayers?

I rested in my bed for a few long minutes before my stomach began to growl and I was reminded of my father's offer of dinner. I quietly crept down the stairs and into the kitchen to see what had been left for me to eat. To my surprise, I found a plate of food from an actual home cooked meal waiting for me on the kitchen table. There was chicken and vegetables and noodles and a bowl of salad. I immediately glanced around the room to make sure this was still our kitchen, skeptical that I had somehow found my way into the Twilight Zone. My father never cooked. He wouldn't have had the slightest idea where to begin. The few meals we shared typically consisted of take out or something very simple, like TV dinners. But apparently, my father had miraculously picked up the ability to cook. 

I sat down at the table and tested the food. I wasn't sure if the food was really that good or if I was really just _that_ hungry, but I managed to wolf the dinner down in just a few minutes.

Once my tummy was contented, I cleaned up the kitchen a little and then started toward my room, but stopped once I heard my father's voice wafting out of his office. He didn't sound as though he was engaged in a business call, and my curiosity got the better of me. Quietly, I tiptoed closer to his office door, in time to catch the end of his phone conversation.

"I'll see you soon. Love you too, Honey. Good night, Dear."

My mouth dropped open in shock. I knew that my father had dated a lot since divorcing my mother; I even suspected it was going on before the divorce, but I had never heard him tell any other woman he loved them.

Quietly, I backed away from the door, and snuck up the stairs without allowing my father to realize I had overheard his conversation. I wasn't sure what to think about this newest revelation, and I certainly wasn't ready to confront my father about it.

Instead, I climbed into my bed with the remote control to my TV, and watched the pictures play over the screen, while my head spun with everything that was going on around me. At least, I was comforted by the thought that things couldn't possibly get more complicated than they already were. But then again, one would think I'd know better than to take comfort in such an assumption.

TBC 

AN- Not beta'd, so, as always, if you find a mistake, let me know. Again, sorry for the delay in updates. Hopefully, the next one won't take quite so long, but it would be foolish of me to make any promises. I love reviews! J


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